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Painting with numbers using. 
Rainbird’s Advanced Art Studio 


Builda Bu^ DIY Hardware 


WIN; Scalextric from Vii^n 
and Rombo’s Video Digitizer 


Plus: Motor Racing games, Stargliders for 
the CPC, PC & PCW, Empire from Firebird 





Official Amstrad Home Computing Magazine 


Norway NDK 20.00 
S-p»in 3D0 Ptas 
Turkey 1650 TL 
Denmark Kr. 3l .00 
New Zefliand N^$4,g5 Hec. 






































AMSTRAD PROFESSIONALS 
FROM DIGITAL RESEARCH 


/Iw 



Your Amstrad has 


256k or 128k to pls^ with. 


The Amstrad 8256 and 
6128 are extraordinary machines 
with random access memory that 
lifts them far above the home 
computer norm. 

Now Digital Research,creators of 
the CP/M operating systems bundled 
wrth these business calibre Amstrads, 
offer serious users professional 
program development power and 
applications portability via Wjo high 
level Digital Research languages: 
PASCAL/MT+ and CBA5IC COMPILER. 

Both la ngua ges com e as co mplete 
packages of standard Amstrad y 
disks with full documentation 

The most complete 
PASCAL£49.95. 

PASCAL/MT+isfull ISO standard 
PASCAL, extended to provide a 
comprehensive professional 
programming environment for 
industrial, business and educational 
applications. 

If s faster, more versatile, more 
portable and easier to use in 
sophisticated applications demanding 
segmented development 

The package includes a compiler 
to generate relocatable object files; a 
linker to generate executable files from 
compiler outputs; a run-time support 
libnarycovering transcendental 
functions, machine interrupts and other 
tasks; a disassembler and a symbolic 
debugger 

As well as standard ISO numerics, 
PASCAL/MT+ supports BCD and 
floating point real numbers for 
arithmetic precision. Special features 
reduce program size and enhance I/O 
capabilities. PASCAL/MT+is the fully 
implemented PASCALyou can start 
with, stay with and never outgrow. 


It seems a pity 
justtoplay 

Ten times faster with 
CBASIC £49.95. 

CBASIC Compiler is a native code 
compilerthatallows separate modules 
to be written, tested and combined to 
create a complete program. And it 
combines machine code speed with 
BASIC ease to produce programs that 
execute eight to ten times faster than 
the same interpreted programs. 

A fully integrated set of device 
independent graphics statements 
and functions permits direct output 
to any graphics peripheral without 
recompiling. 

Extended precision 
14-digit decimal 
arithmetic ensures that 
fractional parts of pound 
amounts are exact and 
ledgers balance to 
the penny. 

CBASIC Compiler 
also supports integer 
arithmetic, so you can 
use integervariables to 
increase execution speed. 


Multiple line function capability 
with multiple parameters provides 
features found in block-structured 
languages. Local variables can be 
dedaredinanMLE MLFfunctionsmay 
be declared as external belonging to 
an entirely different program module. 

Development Potential. 

PASCAL/MT+andCB/KSIC 
Compiler run on the Amstrad CPC 6128, 
PCW8256,CPC 664 and CPC 464 with 
DD-1 disk drive. Use of graphics with 
CBASIC Compileris only available on 
CPC 6128 and PCW8256. 

The Amstrad Professionals from 
Digital Researchwillallowyouto 
explore and exploit your Amstrad 
computefs program development 
potential to the full. 




Piler' 



support for 30 days. 


Amstrad Professionals from Digital Research. 




Now Professionalism begins at home. 

To place an order, send cheque to: Amstrad Sales. Digital Reaseardi (UK) 

Limited, Oxford House, Oxford Street. Newlxify. Berkshire RQ! 3 1JB. 

0»f telephone f'tgwfaury (0635) 3S7S7 or 3S783. with your credit card 
details. Or ooniact your loca I Amstrad dea ler. 

*FR£E telephone support for 30 days foltowing receipt of registration 
card Thereafter a full year's on-line telephone support i'S available for 
just £ 1 S.OO + VAT. Full details will come with your software 

‘^Ptkes indutie 


!(« 


m DIGITAL 
RESEARCH 

The creators of CfVM 


Packaging, Postage and VAT. 
























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1 11- n 


CONTENTS I 


5 News 
11 Letter 
23 Hairy Hackers Haunt 

36 Seek and Ye 
Shall Find 

20 Gallup Chart 

98 LSB 



64 Elite, the software 
house which cares 


Some software houses wifJ 
release any old program, but 
Elite is too fussy for That, as 
Jerry Muir found out. 

44 AMBUG 

Build your own number 5 , , , a 
robot which runs under the 
control of your CPC. So get out 
your soldering iron, dust off 
those wire strippers and get 
going . ,, 



18 Advanced Art Studio 

With more facilities and a 
higher price. Does the former 
justify the latter? Jill Lawson 




found out 

32 Planit 

Sort out your finances., 
software style. But getting 
organised needs more than 
just some clever software. 

77 Empire 

Firebird is hiding its light 
under a bushel and has kept 
quiet about the new space 
strategy game. It may be 
difficult, but it is also very 
addictive. 


81 Games Reviews 

, Colin, Nigel and Uz try out 
Muncher, Sigma 7, Cobra, Into 
The Eagles Nest, and 
Shockway Rider, 





CXIMPETITIONS 


43 Rombo Compo 

Let your video and computer 
become friends with a Vidi 
interface, A simple, free-to- 
enter competition for all 
Arnold owners. 

31 Scalextric Compo 

You are never too old to play 
Scalextric, Win a full set from 
Virgin or a runners-up prize of 
the computer version. 



57 Plumberdroid 

The pipeline is leaking, you 
must dodge the alien and 
repair the pipe before its too 
late. Go for iti 


68 Assembly Point 

Pete Green presents a routine 
which features one of the 
classic principles of assembler 
coding. 


UBTUI 

COMPUTER USER 

Tha afficial nuguina lor all 
ucon of Amstrad oomputars 

Cover photo.' M^rtyn Howfett 


Edhoriaf and Advartirin^ offlou; 

IfiS KJng'a Road, Bf«n«iwCKHl Eaaaic CM 14 4 £P, 

Taft 0277^234453 fEdfloriai); 0277 234434 (Adv9mfn&} 
Tahcom Go/ctr 72^MAG02t 

PLitiH9>ied by Avrairta Ltd, 361/30 St, Petersgste.Stockpoft SKI 1HL 

iV#i(W trade distfibution. Ortmflrtd-fu/opnefls # Oiiinitutimitd 

t/fiil Jy flu/wesr fvyhouM Lsns^ Mastfftos, fasi Sussea TN3S 4tiffl 
Tat: 0424 430422. 

^ Editor: Simon Rockman 
Advarttaamant Miinagar: Jana Naian 
Advortiaamant AaalatAnt; Unraina Day 


Amttfitd it e regiatereif tr^de mark, Jrtd tilfa 

Am^trad Codiptitsf User^ is utad with patmtssion of 
AntStfad ContomaT Etadtoniiis fjfc, hto pad pf d^it pubti- 
cation may ba raprodot^ Wfthout permission. White ever^ 
effort is made W firtsura the xecracy of eH feotoras and 
fislines wa cannot accept any ifahifity for arty misUkss Or 
misprints. The views and opinions expressed am not 
sarify those ofAmstted or Amsoff but repmsenj the 
of our many readers, hsars, artd eontributore. Material for 
pubUcationis only accepted on an eSf-ri^hts basis. We regret 
that Amstred Corrtpuler fJser cannot enter into perspnei 
cpnvspondence. ^Avtafite Ltd f9$Z 


Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 3 





































































MASTERFILE III 


FOR THE AMSTRAD CPC 6128 (ALSO CPC 464/664 WITH DK TRONICS 64K RAM) 


FIRMLY ESTABLISHED ... ALL THIS POWER ... 


MASTERFILE III is now firmly established as 
THE filing system for the CPC6128, It has received 
rapturous reviews and we could paper the wails of 
our new offices with our customers* letters of 
appreciation. 

For the benefit of newcomers to the CPC machines: 
MASTERFILE III is a powerful and flexible data 
filing and retrieval system. All 'database ” systems 
require that your data is organised into fields and 
records. Unlike most, MASTERFILE does not 
commit you to field lengths or formats, since ALL 
data is variable^length and optional. Files are not 
pre-formatted, and only used bytes are saved to 
disc. Also, unlike the rest, MASTERFILE allows 
multiple user-defined ways of viewing/printing 
your data. And unique in its price range, MASTER- 
FILE offers RELATIONAL FILE options, where¬ 
by common data can be entered just once and 
shared by many records. Maximum field size is 
240, maximum fields per record is over 50, and. 
maximum file size is 64K, Room for 1,000 full 
names and addresses, for example. Only one disc 
drive is required. It is menu-driven throughout, and 
comes with detailed illustrated manual, and exam¬ 
ple files. 

so VERY VERSATILE ... 

Just about ANY kind of information can be 
handled by MASTERFILE, You can EXPORT the 
data to other systems (e.g. PROTEXT/MERGE and 
TASWORD). You can even merge your own USER 
BASIC to MASTERFILE for customised file 
processing, or build new files from other computer 
sources. The speed of SEARCH of MASTERFILE 
is second to none. Records can be sorted ascending/ 
descending, character or signed numeric, even 
embedded keys such as surnames. Other functions 
are field-to-field calculations, and several-across 
label printing. We simply don*t have room to list all 
the features! give us a call if you are still in doubt 
of the power of MASTERFILE III, 




Ctscrip-tiDn 

Hiliir 

Kodfl 

HbcrMOni^uiiir, 44k: RM + m ItW 
HiertwonFutErr (£33! f 4lie 

Si&c tiod Jit drive, 3 

printer SOepi 

Utr* eJ tF 

nacliinE 

bii-trad 

toatorsd 

AnitraJ 

dialler 

triiis]] Sterl 
iritith 

Ciintil _ 

d£ 1 ioed I 


■1 a .i iUB 

FkmuLim* jrtiireriTI 
tlectric 

SictaliQiA n?rMne 

CerfH uJlier 

Pared 

l*ir 

01 LVFttg 

PEiilK 

iAlier 

Si tic^rn 
Udynaitrr 

C] »ud-Cuvkg« 
Litirrji 3t 

llfi 

taE343' 

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it™ 


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; 

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ElSi.95 


This is no toy thrown together in BASIC and half- 
tested, but real machine-coded computing power 
professionally constructed. We have had IBM and 
Apricot users beg us for a MASTERFILE for their 
machines —' when they had seen the earlier CPC 
MASTERFILE. All this power is yours for 
£39,95, 

For those who already have an earlier MASTER- 
FILE, we offer updates; please telephone for 
details. You will be amazed at the performance 
improvements and extra functions. 

PCW users: be patient, MASTERFILE 8000 
will be ready early in 1987 **♦ 


MASTERCALC 128 SPREADSHEET 

We also have one of the fastest and friendliest 
spread-sheet programs around, MASTERCALC 
128. Its unique features include: individual tailor¬ 
ing of column widths and precision; relocatable 
formulae; split-screen option; automatic cursor 
advance; text output to printer, or to disc for 
interface with PROTEXT or TASWORD; hi-res 
graphic histogram of any three rows. MASTER¬ 
CALC 128 runs on CPC6128, or CPC464/664 with 
DK Ironies RAM. The price is just £33.00. 



SPECIAL OFFER 

You can save £10 by taking MASTERFILE III and 
MASTERCALC 128 for a combined price of just 
£62,95. 

Prices include VAT and P&P to anywhere in 
Europe, Elsewhere please add 20% for air-mail 
service. ACCESS/ViSA/MASTERCARD welcome, 
written or telephoned, quoting card expiry date. 
Make cheques payable to “Campbell Systems”, 
Our normal response is return of post, 1st class. 

CAMPBELL SYSTEMS Dept (ACU) 

7 Station Road, EPPING, Essex CM16 4HA, 
England. Tel; (0378) 77762/3. 




















































New comms package 
for CPC 


A new terminal package is to be 
launched by Monflair for the CPC 612S 
range of computers. The disc based 
software wdll work with all interfaces 
built to the specification outlined in the 
Amstrad firmware manual. These 
include the Pace^ Honeysoft and both 
the new and old Amstrad serial 
interfaces. 

The package is referred to by the 
authors as being a full wrorkgtation. 
Written with Hi-Softs" Devpac, the pro¬ 
gram has been two years in the making 
and runs under CP^M +. 

The full spec viewdata terminal 
supports telesoftware, double height, 
flashing, a full eight colours, conceal 
and reveal and we expect dynamic 
frames. It is possible to write mailboxes 
off line and send them at high speed 
when you log in. This saves time and 
cuts down on telephone bills. 

Two screen dumps are available, a 
rapid text dump and a shaded Epson 
screen dump. The softw^are will be 
available shortly and cost £39. For 
more details contact Monflair on 01- 
367^1777. 

DK’Tronics 
clock on 

Two years ago Amstrad user ran its 
first hardw^are project. The second one 
is in this month[ Noiv DK has launched 
a peripheral for the CPC which does the 
same job as that ancient project, only 
with a bit more finesse. 

It is a battery backed-gp clock, just 
like the one Amstrad include wdth the 
PC 1512, 3t stores information when 
you switch the computer off. This 
includes a clock which can be switched 
from 12 to 24 hour notation. End of 
month and leap years are catered for in 
the calendar function and you can have 
a daily alarm. 

ft also includes 50 bytes of battery 
backed-up ram for important data and 
will work with CP/M and CP/M-f. 
There is an S bit 1^0 port for control 
applications. The battery is re-charged 
from the Amstrad, so providing you use 
your Amstrad occasionally the data 
should be safe. More details from 
DKTronics on 0493 602926 

Amstrad User May 1987 



Michael CainCf star of The Fourth 
Protocol, outside the Cahinet office* 


CRL reveal a 
warped mind 

In the never ending quest for a new 
approach to software, CRL has 
announced a number of new programs. 
The most mundane of these is Sun 
Star. According to the press release 
’You are destined for the Xxarian Star 
Corporation solar energy grid to collect 
energy" fwhat else — Ed), 

It goes on ""However, due to a build up 
of unstable energy pulses, that task is 
far from easy". Basically it’s a jolly good 
shoot-em-up which will cost £7.95 on 
tape and £14,95 on disc. 

The releasee continue as the gore 
sets in. ‘Gothic Horror from CRL’, This 
is a three part Frankenstein adventure 
with reportedly terrifying sound effects 
and a price tag reading £9.95 on the 
tape or £14.95 on disc. 

Then the bumf plumbs the depths. 


The second 
and third 
4th Protocols 

Someone, somewhere in Britain is 
building an atomic bomb. He is a top 
KGB agent, the smartest they’ve got. 
With only a deep belief that this is 
what’s going on, and the slightest of 
clues, you must find and stop him. 

An excellent new film telling the 
story is doing the rounds, Go and see it, 
if only to watch a transit van being 
driven like a rally car. The hero is John 
Preston, played by Michael Caine, who 
solves the cnme with the help of a BBC 
Micro. 

Sounds ideal for a computer game 
really. And indeed it is. The fourth 
Protocol - the game is an adventure 
using icoms and ciphers rather than 
text. Ariolasoft produced the first 
Amstrad version of this adventure 
quite a while back. It runs on the CPC 
and is worth looking out for. 

To coincide with the film release 
Ariolasoft has launched PCW and PC 
versions of the game. Ideal for some 
cerebral exercise. 


‘CRL licenses Oink[\ This is not a par¬ 
ticularly horrific press release. It tells 
of a game in which you play the part of 
Uncle Pigg, the world-famous editor of 
the magazine and have to be promoted 
from tea boy to editor^ (Same thing in 
this place - Ed). What is horrific is that 
they keep sending copies of the maga¬ 
zine. It’s sick, vile and absorbing. 

No one fooled 

Amstrad User’s scoop news feature on 
Amstrad’s sky rocket in the April issue 
of ACU does not seem to have foaled 
anyone. It was of cour.se an April Fool, 
But how may of the clues did you spot? 
The acronyms APRIL, LOCOSCRIPT 
and even April FOOL worked into the 
script. Little touches like the date at 
the bottom and large hints like the 
satellite footprint should have helped 
you twig. 


Page 5 


























r 



NEWS 



Jailbreak winner 

Johnathan Morrice of Great Yarmouth 
is the winner of the Konami Jailbreak 
machitie. The full size arcade machine 
is now sitting in his halL The response 
to the competition was fantastic. Thank 
you to everyone who took part. 

The correct answers were 1. 2. c, 3. 

a, 4r c. To award the prize to John¬ 
athan, Luther De Gale of Konami UK, 
Hiro Maruo of Konami Europe and 
Mike Daniels of NMC {the company 
which handled the home computer 
conversion) came into the office. Our 
photograph shows Johnathan and Mr 
Maruo with the prize. 



Rupert Bnwater and Paul IVorris of Binary Oesiffn 


Tropical quest at the Palace 


Well not actually the Palace, more a 
Palace, In this case Palace Software. 
They will be releasing Stifflip &. Co. 
The game is described as multi-role 
action back-packed adventure". It 
consists of two parts, ^^Out For The 


Count” and "The Final Countdown”. 

Programmed by Binary Vision, Vet¬ 
erans of Zoids and The Fourth Protocol, 
the game centres around Sebastian 
Stifflip and his quest for Count 
Chamelion. 


Starlight dawns 



Two new games will be out soon 
from Starlight, the sister company 
to Ariolasoft, The first game is 
Dogfight 2187 and looks a little like 
Top Gun. The 3D vector graphics 
portray your role as Dexter. You 
must search the skies for pieces of 
the Spatial Generator, This will 
prevent an attack by hordes of 
marauding alien invaders. 

The second title Is Deathscape, 
which uses the old sci-fi plot of two 
nations putting up a champion in 
one-to-one combat rather than 
fighting an all-out war. 

You play the hero volunteered by 
the Sol Federation, put into battle 
against a single Varg ship. Unfor¬ 
tunately the Varg’s cheat and have 
sent a squadron against you. The 
arena is known as the Deathscape, 
and only one ship will e^scape alive. 
Make sure that ship is yours. 



Deathscape 


DaVE 3nd PAM 


by AifX&SPjrAi- 

t! 




j STiu- caht see 

TWe PoviT OF A 

wcw Pc when Vbu^ 
A-EEasv Ctor 
A ConfurER**. 



“ You C0ULJ> TA¥£~ op 

O^MpUTiN^i AS A KOBBy ALSO, 
AMO -mEM WE'O EACH UAvS- 
COft CWM machine . flow ABOUT 



ro TttiMlc or ir^ i moml^ 
yo Tx> A wx OF 
'HACfeinc' 
































































The 7th official 



If you’ve an Amstrad computer - or thinking 
of getting one - you just HAVE to visit this 
mega event in the computing world. 


FREE THEATRE 
PRESENTATIONS 

To meet the exceptional demand, 
we *ve DOUBLED the number of 
seats in the Amstrad Theatre, In 
continual sessions every day of 
the show, Britain's top experts 


Alexandra Pavilion 

London N22 




Friday July 10 
Saturday July 11 
Sunday July 12 


10am~6pm 

10am-6pm 

10am-4pm 


AMSTraA 


cm 


s 


The move to Alexandra Pavilion - one of London’s largest and 
most prestigious venues - means there is 50% more space - with 
many more stands and many more exhibitors than ever before. 
It’s the fastest growing computer show of them all! 


will be there to answer your 
questions - and help you make 
the correct choice from the 
multitude of new products youll 
see on display at the show^ 




















































THANATOS 



In iltoi rrogical game yoli control oF a tJr^n, ThirvHOi thio- dtiirojiier. wh&w tiflrnal deswr*^ lic^ in 
conflict wuh iflc forctiCiF iFiC iifidorvi'prld. T>C cfragon i? l^fgC and SHlptrbl^ anirnated. fliM. ^alki. 

vid Isurnfli liij wajf throu^ji chc tmdEcajw. The gvne fciiuircs. famast+c landscapM with a lotaJlj' nc'^H 
pjixiraniic scrolling aaion 

^'i2yw! IhRt game: k really aimnng: {[unn^nj. asiounAng. briHiam:! The tune cin ttie title screen ts ver^ tbce, 
iKit tl» giaphici arc absoluieHir si^rb " CRASH, Dctember 1906 (ovenaJI ranng 93 %] 

t^.^S Spertrum cissetce 

£9 9 S Ainstrid cissecic. -tl 1.95 .Arracrad disk [£ 9.95 by mail order) 

£?.9S C-c'tvmodoTC 6 * caasetw. £99S Comrtxjdore 64 flksk 












mm 








y R Rf 

£9^5. 


SIOMA SEVEN 

An ali-iiiion arcade game Featuring imagmati'ic staie^F-the-art Jb gmpFnic? nnd cicitinj synthesiied wurtd. 
Th^re are se^'en irxreass^^l^ Ticre diFflcuk st'agC'S to tFio game whtch stjrts-dut usiy but ends-up aFriwsi 
impossible taicti stage js split into three pFissos : First, rake a spacE-hgFiLer ind blaii your sway to tise nead 
station thir,sitgh simarnt-minetScfcncos tlTen Free tFsit ttatiesn'i tnccrnal pstliways oFkiHer-robcrt.sarid radioaciivc 
deposits. C.P Finally roach tFse riMnDto‘controlled inain paiwl whicfi nuu. be riset kvi-ihin a criocal Fcin seconds. 

"I really like sFv* - rt has tFsrec ncsit mnu.giTics all of which ar* ecry playitJe and acSdictnrcThic jraphecs vc 
really crisp and -clesr with a beautilbl ttar-ry backdrof^ ." ZZAPP. Fcbrv-iry I9]t7 {overall mtinj rD%) 


£T.9i Spectrum cassette 

£7 9S Amstrod tissettc. £1 I 95 Anvptrnd dark (£9.95 by miil order'i 
£9 9S Commodonr 64 caisf tte, £.9.95 Carrmodnre 64 dilk 






0€EP STRIKE 


At Itsc an ppponuniry to try ytxjr luck against [lie Red birts'i and his (tying cercui of yVorld sAai i rryii'i,^ 
Bcrs. This game not only IciJ. yon take-off in a FuPy irniDd flghcer. but also gives you conttul oF ttie four 
bomber^ cyF your DEEP STRIKE attack Fcjeicc Ft wsm the latMt trehniques to bung yon i s-nnsoth-ictojliitg 
and tilpeig !}P lartilscape viewed From £he coekpit hn lull colniir 

" .afier a Few gamoi I rMlIy got into n. The way you tin boniir the ground icaturei (ccpeciaily ehLir-ciies!i 
makes the game nmeh inorc cn|oya(b*£ than iF yxw just had to Ehoot planesOveiafl ai giine that you Hnoijfd 
OOiht back tu quite a lot n tFie Furyiic ' AMTIX.. Fcbruiry I9S,7 (overall raimg 71%) 


£9.9S Sfiectrurri isa±iotsc 

f9 9& Amstrad cassette,. £1 1.95 Aiintrad disk (£9.95 by mill order) 
£7 95 Cormriodkjic 6 * cassette. £9.95 Cominodeni M disk 


■ 4 ^ 




1 ■' 





_ 



DURELL Sale& Dept., 
Castle Lodge, 

Castle Green, 
TAUNTON, TAI 4AB 
Som, England. 


Telephone: {0823) 54489 



































dfll 


FAT WOflM BLOWS A SPARKY 


Noi* fijr ■sci»riCTlw>g cnmplftHHy dflfiCrEm Vimt art jif iinidFOvi Irtthi wornirt tKiFig. cfuA<'f^ a Wnl^ir 

SpcctFum bj- ti-ec(rtri lit Iflumlks Mid iil^itCiH ort fefiU. CieSffliH *iff ilK>uliri^ Ijiif pw a( ilir- 

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ip VKW/vd ^Dtn abcm:, as you O-JofhH araurid m uarihi at b di^. drivic iOA y^hjch eo tkair y^ascri 

and at^dactivcncss are- tIm: h^htciL suiKbrd, Shk aa Uk jjraphkt - ienrlL wFiat. LaiF I fAy* 
ijif 3 ; jtnirnjnkHn awf toHd: ID joci, thii B pt^ibably ihpc htsi I havc fviir iMfl” CRASH.. I'jflf. 

{fiVerall ra4.ill| 

£9.95 SjwccrLuwi c^»[c« op*v 


SABOTEUK h - Awtjftgiftg Anget 


A. ti.lli.i'wv iifi Liy ilk' ui ijrjiul ^llnOr. whtcrf tu tbe Nkl^i’l bcauLvTLrl SFlFtl , your iVhiUkjA ts. td yr^r 

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Irrr hiiikln it 1< 11 .icnjify. iIvi^it biiJdat^s^ wki'^riTpivI caverAf. mtcElj^ent greud and-iFCupid ^Rrds. 


i f SS S|N;tlllillT>i i.aY.WillL'' 

if ‘i’’’ Aittsii All Lif, LF F.95 Afniti'.Hl disk y£9.9S by ib.id ar-detF 

i f t im-Hrii-v kii -1 ■ h4 i;.lvsi.'4LD, £9'9'ii Cirfrur?jr-j 44 thsk 


A ctuflpilaEioft oi Otrell's foitf flreat irtiajh hits ; COMftAT kYbSX, 'SAaOTtUR. TURBO tSFRlT. .md 
CRITICAL MAiS. 

"Al ai ihese mcfiganes charted, all' of 'em are winner^ II yeni vc ipenJ: the lail ei^liLcan months bo^j^iiF||. 
torri>fvii4g arid iwppfHnj [tY*>S h^ bold bC these tidee, now ytFu c>ii relax[Ooty Bct[hci.vcn'B Oiirttit 
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c-ollectien vrprt-h ealtec'iiix.'' O & V'Cl, Deccirber l9fi7' 

£9.95 SpetTriKTi cassette 

£995 Annscrad cassette. £U.95 Amscrad di* {£9 9$ by oiiiiil i?nJcrJ 
£9 95 Commodore 6* cassette {also on p^o "Oifc-Disks'?. £9.9i cachj 


4 5in«h HHi 
Inane pflch 


^EcrniJM 


MAIL ORDER 

AH Dyrell games are also available by mail order, with no charge for postage or packing, just include a postal 
order or cheque made payable to ^Dui ell Software Ltd”, along with your name and address, your computeTp 
and the title of the game you wish to purchase. Your game will be sent by return-of-post Notet Amstrad 
disks arc only £9.95 by mail order! 









































Hi! My name’s Mr. Head. Some say I’m the one with the ^ brains but I don t think my footed 
friend would agree, Fm a real sharp shooter, but without my pal Mr. Heals I'd get nowhere 
fast. . .or slow! i can jump like a flea and even glide but Heals is the Daley Thompson of 
the two of us — hes FAST! Together, if we can find each other, we really do make an . 

awesome twosome, and that’s the only way we can overcome the emperor | 

Blacktooth, The last time we entered Castle Blacktooth we found the crowns of THREE 
of the supressed kingdoms but by that time I’d run out of doughnut ammunition and my 
buddy was lost somewhere in the Safari world - it was the closest we had come to defeating that 
rapscallion - we were jumping for joy, splitting our sides, dying with 
laughter. . .we were Head over Heals! 

SPECTRUM 


COMMODORE 


AMSTFAD 

Ocean Softw^are 6 Central Street ■ Manchester ■ M2 5NS 

Tpipnhnnft fliSl Ori=nn<; C 




















II 















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Hi, I’m Lance Da via, 

. ^ 
your letters editor:»'lf there is any- , 

thinfif you think Amstrad computer^ 

J users ought to know about then drop me 

a line, I can^t deal with individual problems 

^ and this Isn't really the pl^ce for progranut^g 

tuition but it is the place for bouquets and brickbats, 

views and Opuiiona. WriU^ me at the^addre^ in'^ ^ 

^the front of the nmlfaxmebl^n Teiecom Gold 

System 72ana£012, Remember^timt some ~ 

^ writers will be sent fi^e software, so let 

know which^mputer 

you have. 


New leaf needed 

After all the delays, the Advanced 
Memory Sy&tems AMX Pagemaker 
finally appeared for the Amistrad com¬ 
puters. 

After all my big expectations, I was 
very sadly let down when I received my 
copy and tried using it on my 6120, 

The program appears to have been 
put on the market without even the 
most basic quality control and it can 
only be described as useless, since some 
of the most element^try' functions do not 
w^ork of work incorrectly. 

For example, Text Windows are in¬ 
operative and any attempt at a print¬ 
out produces a picture that is a dis¬ 
torted blur. It is certainly not my Man- 
nesmann Tally that is at fault since it is 
listed by AMS as compatible. 

Considering that it costs £50,1 think 
it disgraceful that softivare is put on 
the market in such condition. It 
reminds me of some of the bad untested 
software that was available in the early 
days of home micros. 

I have returned my disc to AMS and 
hope that they can come up with a new' 
page!maker), 

C.R.Grey, 
Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil. 

LD: W had a copy of Pageniaker in 
for reniewi, and as you say it ts often 
lacking. We have decided to wait until 
the bugs are fumigated. 

Both Afi>rorao/lf and AMX 
announced desktop puhlishiTig pro¬ 
gram.^ for the CPC a long, tong time 
ago. They both underestimated the time 
it would take and have failed to come up 
with the goods^ 

If you are dei^perate for a DTP pack¬ 
age then what works of Pagemaker is 
excellent, and they will upgrade it for 
you later. 

Amstrad User May 1987 


Live long and prosper 

I am writing to the person who created 
the cover photograph for the March ’87 
issue of ACU. Did you make that space¬ 
craft, and did you create the laser 
beams by printing over the 
photograph? Are you an artist who 
uses a camera instead of paints? How' 
did you manage to use half a dozen 
shiny new^ computers in your picture — I 
doubt that you own them all? 

Patrick Lee, 
Cheshunt, 


LD: Ge.niu.s behind the lens is Mar^vH 
Hvwett who does most of the photogra¬ 
phy in ACU including last m.onths 
fabbo cover. He is the one standing 
between the chips on page 54 of the 
April issue. The spaceship was built by 
Daniel Shandrake and the laser beam. 
was put on by cutting a shaped hole in 
the background and covering it with a 
red film. The machine.^ in the photo are 
not so new and you can see the scrat¬ 
ches. We had to borrow some of them. 





























LETTERS 


I 



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The Rainbird 
has flown 

Readers like myaelf who took advan¬ 
tage of your recent offers for Rainbird 
software are in for a nasty shock should 
they find problems with their disc, or 
wish to update their music system (as I 
did). 

Rainbird tell their users to return 
their discs to a particular address. The 
Post Office promptly sends them back 
as "address gone away\ 

Faced with this* and noting that 
Rainbird belong to British Telecom, I 
duly presented the problem to the local 
telephone operators who did their best. 

I eventually ended up talking to a 
puzzled but courteous chap in London 
who tried hard and eventually came up 
with a telephone number. 

So 1 got the people at last, and 
extracted their new address from them. 
It is the same as Firebird, who also 
don^t advertise in your journal, and it 
was changed last May. 

I eventually got my update. And, oh 
yes, Rainbird still gives the wrong 
address on the new package. They 
didn’t apologise either. When you are 



attached to a big company, why bother 
about the customer? 

Rainbird address is: 74 New Oxford 
St, London, W31A IPF 

James McKnight, 
Cheshire, 

LD: 1 spoke to someoTie at Rainbird. He 
said that Wellington House is the head 
office for New Information Services 
(NIS) and that Rainbird is partofTeie- 
comsofi which is part of NIS. So all the 
post to Wellington House should be re¬ 
directed.^ 

The number is in the London phone 
bo^^k, so directory enquiries should have 
able to tell you that you need 01 - 
240-8838, 


In Defence of Protext 

(As if it needed defending - Ed) 

1 would like to congratulate you on the 
review of the CP/M version of Protext, 
On the whole 1 found it to be a fairly 
accurate assessment of its capabilities, 

I appreciate that it is very hard to 
provide a 100 per cent accurate review 
of such a complete program as Protext 
in the limited time available to a 
reviewer. 

As the author of the manual and 
therefore well acquainted w^ith Protext, 
I feel that one or two points mentioned 
in the review might need clarifying. 

Protext does in fact know exactly 
where page breaks fall at all times, and 
the information on the status lines 
gives full details of page, line, and 
column numbers at all times. 

These figures are corrected 
automatically to allow for changes in 
line spacing, whether headers or 
footers are on. The figure on the status 
lines 4s always the true line number as 
it will be printed. 

Reference is made to the fact that the 
Undelete command can be used to 
mimic a block move. This might give 
the impression that Protext does not 
support block moves, when in fact it 
has very simple commands to move, 
copy and delete, as well as undelete, 
blocks of text. 

Reference is made to the fact that 
mail merging can result in a lot of 
wasted paper if you make a mistake. 
The manual mentions that the PRINTS 
command (to print to screen) is particu¬ 
larly useful for checking that a mail 
merge file is correctly arranged, before 
you commit it to paper. 

PRINTS is a very useful option at 
any time, as it gives’ a good indication of 
how any document will appear on the 
paper. 

From personal experience, 1 would 
doubt the validity of the statement that 
Protext’s spell is slower than LocoSpell 
if you are to compare their use in simi¬ 
lar situations. Perhaps if you were to 
compare the stand alone version of 
Prospell, where you have to save the 
file, leave Lucoscript, load Prospell and 
then carry out the spelling check, there 
may be some Validity in the statement, 
but Pretext’s Spell enables you to check 
a document in memory very much 
more quickly. 

While I can see the point about being 
able to check a single word with Loco- 
Spell, in many ways this defeats the 
object of a spelling checker, which is not 
only to check for incorrectly spelt 
words, but also for typing errors, which 
can only be done by checking through 


the whole document. 

I do not see the inability to read Loco- 
script files directly to be a major failing, 
as normally, once a document is 
completed, it is merely archived for pos¬ 
sible future reference. One would 
therefore only bother to transfer those 
Locoscript documents which you 
needed to use again, which can easily 
be done via the Make Ascii option and 
then can simply he loaded into Protext 
and reformatted as a normal Protext 
document. 

Control codes and any other codes, 
such as soft hyphens, may be hidden at 
any time by use of the ALT-V V 
command. 

Handling disc, loading and saving 
operations from command mode, rather 
than from a LocoScript menu is 
actually far quicker, as it allows multi¬ 
ple operations to be carried out. For 
example, to copy all .DDC files from one 
drive to another simply requires the 
command COPY a:*.DOC B, rather 
than having to select each one 
individually and then confirm it. 

One particular use for the typewriter 
mode is as a quick and easy w^ay to add 
individual postscripts to letters after 
the main part has been printed. 

1 hope you will find the above infor¬ 
mation useful 

David Foster, 
Cumbria. 

LD: The real test is yet to come. Protext 
vs LocoScript 2. 1 spoke to Locomotive 
about the speed tests they ran on Pros¬ 
pell and they sounded very fair, but 1 
doubt there ts that much in it 

Looking up 
Great Aunt Ethel 

In the February edition of ACU you 
published a letter from G.K. Armsti’ong 
w^ho had wTitten a data filing system 
for his genealogical records. I am also in 
the process of researching my family 
history and would welcome a contact 
from anyone w^ho could provide such a 
program. 

S, Rowden, 

16 Howard Gardens, 
Guildford, 
Surrey, 
GUI2NX 

Worthy cause 

1 am currently researching any project 
that are using computers with severely 
handicapped people with a view to 
starting a project in East Sussex. I 
would be grateful if you would publish 

Amstrad User May 1987 


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ACU5 















































































































































































































































































































LETTERS I 



this letter m case any of your readers 
have experiences they would like to 
pass on to me. The aim of the project in 
Brighton would be to investigate 
whether computers can be used as a 
tool to facilitate communication, poss¬ 
ibly as a very low levels with mentailly 
handicapped adults who otherwise 
have no Communication at the present 
time. In particular lam interested in 
any programs geared towards adults 
rather than children and in your 
readers experiences and the hardware 
they use. 

Mark Tennent, 
Social Worker, 
Hollingdean & Coldean Office, 
62 Brentwood Rd, 
Brighton, 
East Sussex. 

Listing lament 

AHGGRR! The DUSJL (Dreaded Un- 
Standard Jump from line 30 to line 75 
in Listing) has struck once more. I refer 
to the line numbering system in the 
April issue of ACU. Instead of, like 
most other ordinary minded humans, 
numbering their program lines in steps 
of 10, 1 or 5 or so on, they chose to 
confuse all us proggy-enterers and use 
oddly numbered lines. Please could you 
RENUM listings. 

Excellent April Fools Day trick! After 
seeing no immediate clues to the 
presence of a trick, I started to read the 
article entitled Amstrad^s Going into 
Orbit and I honestly believed it. 

When r read that the main rocket 
consisted of three Aprils I became very 
suspicious. I finally knew that Fd been 
fiendishly tricked when 1 saw that the 
satellite would be called the AF-IE 

Jason Anderson, 
Portraead, 
Swansea. 

LD: There was a lot wrong with Quoiie 
- if you send me a stamped addressed 
envelope I'll let you have a corrected 
(and renumbered) listingr Thanks for 
the April Fools compliment; the thanks 
should go to Rupert, Vox and lunchtime 
lubrication. 

Postal programs 

W'ith reference to the enquiry in the 
letters section of the last issue, from 
Mr, Johns of Dorset concerning the use 
of the CPC612S in sub post offices, we 
supply Sub Office Software, a suite of 
programs currently In use from 
Aberdeen to Penzance which process 
daily Post Office transactions and 
weekly balance. 

If you can put us in touch with Mr. 

Amstrad User May 1&87 


Johns, we can let him know of the post 
offtces in this area which are already 
running the system. 

C.E.Cope, 
Geotechnical Monitoring, 
Birmingham, 

Locked away 

I am writing to you at this moment in 
deep agony over a small and seemingly 
easy problem. How do I use my extra 
64K? Ever since 1 got my 6128 com* 
puter it has been pure agony for me as I 
slave away compacting when ! know 
that locked away deep inside my com¬ 
puter there is an extra 64K, How do I 
use it? Bank Manager will do the job 
but it has many limits and boundaries. 
Recently in my attempts I ventured 
into machine code in the hope of a sol* 
ution but te no result. 

So here I am, writing te you on my 
hands and knees begging that you will 
end my agony and show me how to use 


my extra memory without using Bank 
Manager. Simon Nursey, 

Essex. 

LU: The extra bank of ram is tricky to 
access, that’s why Amstrad supply 
Bank Manager^ You will have to use 
machine code to do it yourself and I 
suggest you get a copy of SOFT 96S - 
the technical firmware Tnanuai but you 
may find it heavy going. DK Tronics 
sell a Rom which turns the extra mm. 
into a silicon disc. This may solve your 
problems. 

More tape troubles 

I own an Amstrad CPC 464 with a disc 
drive. Recently, my tape deck gave out 
completely due to rather heavy use and 
much rough treatment, The majority of 
my games and utility software is on 
tape because disc space is so expensive, 
and as a result 1 arn left with a pretty 
useless machine on my desk. 

I have tried returning it for repair, 

Page 15 

















LETTERS 




r. vu J ^,-, ^ W (W-, ^ ^'J-'f m ,-t lQ. 

>: '.o;- oo.' \-\v. oo > >: >: too .’• H.: 

8;v?;3j?;^c®5;J;«8?^sss;. 

;-: ■: 05 >: •: ^ CO; X •: ^ ■.-fc'; Xj -.'Ov >x- o 





but the warranty has run out, the 
machine has been tampered with 
(oopSi!) and the quote I received was £30 
For several months wait. 

I have tried wiring in an external 
tape deck but I am unsure which wires 
I should disconnect and plug the ex¬ 
ternal wires into* The wires directly 
beneath the built in deck are red, black, 
white, blue, green, brown^ grey, and 
yellow from top bo bottom, 

I have tried to replace these wires at 
random, but alas, no success, 

1 have therefore written to you with 
an urgent plea for information and 
meanwhile 1 have to sit staring at my 
machine with its entire library of 
CP/M, DR Logo, and Roland in Space, 
with 80 other games and utilities on 
tape, Arghh! 

Michael Fin, 
Chiswick. 

LD: y ou. really fthoidd get your tape 
deck fixed, there is no excuse for a long 
wait, since it is a fairly routine job. I’d 
have thought that £30 a little steep 
but not amazingly so. 

The leads you need to worry about are 
the blue and green. Blue is for data in 
(load) and green for data out (save). 
Now that blank discs ore SO ni-ueh 
chea}>er, the price of disc-ha.sed games 
ought to come down. 

Foul play 

A while ago 1 purchased a game titled 
The Boss by Peaksoft for £R,95> 
Although it was never a biggie game, 
for some reason I bought it. Earlier this 
year I bought Soccer Boss by Alterna¬ 
tive Software for £1*95 at a nearby 
computer shop thinking that might be 
better* 

To my amazement and anger Soccer 
Boss seemed exactly the same as The 
Boss so I thought something 

not quite right here^* {but in a stronger. 



foreign language). Is this just an 
unlucky coinddence or have 1 been 
cheated of £7? Is this sort of copying 
legal? 

Martin Fancourt, 
Up-minster, 
Essex. 

LD: Repackaging football games does 
seem to be a bad habit among software 
companies. Even Virgin is at it with 
Soixer ’S6 being updated to Soccer ’87. 
Vm not sure what went on between 
Peaksoft and Alternative Software but 
thanks for warning all ACU readers. 

Called to the bar 

Had a CPC464 for Christmas, great. 
Bought ACU, great- Decided to type in 
K. Freeman’s program ’Combat’, Took 
ages, run, error line 200, ISPRITE! 
What's [SPRITE? 

Don’t know, fetch Dad, now Dad was 
found long ago among a row of turnips, 
error, error, delete turnip. 

H&ve re-checked Type In error, Now 
line 1490- Can anyone tell me what 
went wrong? 

Kirk Guest, 
Birmingham. 

LD: The bar command signifies an 
HSX. Look at the ^eytiocfrci, find the 
symbol. This shares a key together with 
(S; and the world is your RSX, 


Prestel proggies 

I have a CPC464, a modem and ani 
registered with PresteL I want to do 
some of this downloading of programs I 
hear so much about. How do 1 go about 
it? 

Kenneth Allen, 
Warlingham 

LD: Amsnet and Micronet offer tele- 
sofiware for the CPC’s but you need the 


right software to get at it. Amstrad^ 
KDS and Pace have software which will 
work, but the Cirkit interface .software 
was written before the standard had 
been established. You need to be a 
member of Prestel Microcomputing to 
get to the important pages. It’s fun, so 
have a look. 

Programming 

Mousterpiece 

A little help for any fellow AMX mou»e 
owners who have painstakingly typed 
in the game Sniper in February’s ACU 
and have found the cursor key control 
clumsy and difficult to handle (like 1 
did), which enables a mouse to be used 
to move the gun sights* 

An extra feature, HOLD: by pressing 
<EXECUTE> the game freezes until 
<CANCEL> Is pressed, is included - 
free of charge. 

All that is necessary is to modify 
some lines as shown below. The 
remainder of the program should be left 
as it is. When the game is run the 
mouse files DEML0A,B1N, DEMO.RS, 
VDUTAB*0, and ROM.ICN should all 
be on the same disc (or same tape — in 
that order), as these will load 
automatically. 

David Clark, Doncaster, 


ki PUHTTUiSf Ntif 
IS SYn&gL ^FTEf: 3^*11 Lni^RIf KSFff 

£8 !(ieaLGa.bin%E6eHB;liUL USBBaiPSEIIt:EiJSUB^70 
78 1 lB{)£PER Iznm B:S»UN» 4 

!;0DEF[hT a-i 

fte 

bii -teyPreii 

570 tf tHK:EYi:TB]=0 AND sh>B THENf^P'SUe 7&8 
if 

5»0 J = !f7aLy=5B-(>'/B) 

pB0 ji = !i 4B ii^-y ipd E4 

iS10[f 1HK£Y(7T}*0THEN NH]IE IHEEY{76i^i^B: 

420 IF kE] 4ND THEM «50 



Page 16 


Amstrad User May 1987 

























Another Great 
Cempilatien from 


Beau Jolly t 


Spectrum/Commodore/Amstrad — Cassette £6.95 
Commodore/Amstrad — Disk £ 11.95 

Tell your friends also available for BBC, Electron & C16/Plus 4 Computers 

( I itles may vary by format) 



The name behind the great games 

I . It 1 V'A. hll Srii -r !<i-,-,jir Kl ly 'Al J WA 




FEATURE 


Advanced 


The Advanced Art Studio aims to 
correct the shortcomings of the 
earlier Rainbird offering. Jill Lawson, 
our own digital Dali, takes a peek. 


Rainbird'a original OCP Art Studio 
became available for CPC 612S poss- 
esaors in the latter part of 1986. ^r^cor- 
porating many sophisticated features ^ 
it provided excellent value for money 
{ACV November 1986). Now Rainbird 
has come up wdth Advanced Art Studio ^ 
which offers all the capabilities of the 
original version, plus many new and 
exciting characteristics. 

The screen layout is the same, with a 
double row of drop-down menu boxes. 
Selection is via the cursor keys and 
spacebar,, but there is an option to 
define one^s own choice of keys, use a 
joystick or mouse. The program comes 
with an extensive manual, but the 
majority of available functions are self- 
explanatory. 

Duplicate dump 

No alterations have been made to the 
printer dump section, and the file hand¬ 
ling is similar, but now screens can be 
compressed when saved,, allowing 
several more pictures to a disc^ 

As before, patterns and text files can 
be saved or loaded with similar files 
accessed via the appropriate menu, and 
an innovation is the ability to save and 
compress individual windows. 


Colour palette selection is one of the 
areas where some of the most radical 
changes have taken place. As one 
would expect, two inks n>ay be selected 
in Mode 2, four in Mode 1, and 16 in 
Mode 0, which is newly supported in 
this Advanced version. 

Now, however, there are 12 vertical 
scroll bars associated with every ink. 

Each bar may be set to any one of the 
Amstrad's 27 colours, so that an ink 
may sequence through a maximum of 
12 different colours at a speed 
determined by an indicator on a hori¬ 
zontal bar near the bop of the screen. 
The colour of the border may be set in a 
similar fashiom 

Colour choices may be further man¬ 
ipulated with the cycle and rotate 
switches^ allowing an infinite variety of 
animated palette effects. 


Under the paint heading the choice of 
16 pens remains the same, as do the 
spray sizes, but now' spray can be fast, 
giving a thin distribution of dots, 
medium, or slow - which gives the 
densest coverage. 

The brush option is quite different to 
that in original Art Studio. The brush 
patterns and the textured fill patterns 
are linked, with a single pattern 
element available as a brush, or multi¬ 
ple elements “tessellated" to form a fill 
texture, 

A total of 15 new patterns may be 
designed at any one time, but 
frequently-used textures, such as stip¬ 
ple fills could be saved as separate files 
and re-loaded as necessary, 

A pattern element {brush) is de¬ 
signed on a grid of height and wudth 
variable between one and 16 pixels^ 



• l i- - 

A : ; . = i k 

^ , A * *rri3pqrs^t. • * li ^ ^ z j i > * g ; 

Th^ font evfiior is easy to use 



Page IS 


Amstrad User May 1987 


































□ 





- : : : 

J . .. 

i" 

. liiS 



.ococ^; •: ccco>: •: 

FEATU] 






— 1;.^ . 









Moda 1 Aiill producer results 



In the space of only a few months this 
version of Art Studio succeeds in 
making the original “best buy for the 
CPC 6128” art studio look old- 
fashioned and out-dated. 

It is an absolute must for any 
aspiring artist, either as a stand-alone 
utility or as an excellent add-on to your 
favourite existing drawing program, 
because of the ease with which one can 
now swap pictures between studio and 
other utilities simply by saving or load¬ 
ing with an appropriate file name. 

If you own a CPC 6128 buy it. If you 
donX buy a 6l2Bt 


The three magnify levels remain excellent 


Multi-coloured mixtures are possible, 
backgrounds can be transparent, and 
an existing design can be copied to 
another pattern box, flipped, rotated 
and scrolled. In addiUon, an area of the 
picture can be captured and used as a 
pattern. 

This is by far the most advanced and 
versatile system I have come across for 
pattern design, and is a delight to use.. 

The shapes menu has been extended 
to include ellipses. These and the circles 
can now be filled as well as unfilled, but 
this facility does not apply to rectangles 
or triangles. 

As previously, one can choose an 
elastic preview for lines and shapes^ It 
is perhaps surprising that this is not 
the default choice, and 1 would have 
appreciated an on-screen reminder of 
the current foreground colour when in 
drawing mode. 

Extra extras 

Along with the new screen mode 0 
there are two significant extras in the 
miscellaneous section. Firstly redo, 
which complements the undo function 
by allowing a preview of what will be 
undone. 

Although this is a valuable plus, I 


would have preferred a change to the 
undo, which, unlike other utilities, does 
not just remove what w^as drawn in the 
immediately previous operation, that is 
the last line or last area filled, but takes 
out everything back to the last drawing 
mode selection. 

Consequently a small error in 
drawing a single line could result in a 
ipss of a gniut deal of correctly drawn 
picture if it has alt been produced since 
the last pen change,or, more seriously, 
a leak in a final Ml could neccessitate a 
restart to filling a number of separate 
areas. It is necessary to reselect the 
same mode frequently to avoid frus¬ 
tration of this kind. , 

The second item is the very useful 
ability to protect inks. Basically, this 
means that anything drawn in a 
''protected" ink is not obscured when 
drawing over it in a different colour. So 
scenery, for instance, can be drawn 
behind an object in the foreground so 
long as care is taken to do it in a colour 
not used in the object. 

Ink protection can apply to all 
drawing on screen, whatever the func¬ 
tion, but it should be remembered that 
a protected ink does not constitute a 
boundary when performing a fill. Used 
with care, this is an extension which 


could prove invaluable. 

Layout of the window.? menu has 
been revised, but only the abilty to save 
and reload windows is new, 

I believe that the finished version will 
be changed so that the current drawing 
ink will automatically become the cur¬ 
rent plot colour in the zoom modes. 

Addition of text in a choice of siKes, 
styles and directions, with a choice of 
several fonts and an editor to allow cre¬ 
ation of new fonts, now lets one change 
the spacing within a range of 4 to 15 
pixels. 


Conclusion 


Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 19 






















































GAL L U P 



CHART 





The fist fiends fight OH, tW? timo with a more 
vicious trail and at a ioVver price, Vou heve to fight 
off the manv using a vadatv of weapons. A bit like 


Nin}a Mastertronic 


Kung Fu Master, 


Save all yom pennies for some day tjy avoiding the 
'aitade and playing Green Beret, Ping-Pong,, Hypsr- 
ifpdris, Mike and Vis ^'Kung-Fu at home, - 


Konami'is Coin 


Excellent co!y||l:is|drt,''’jtff the mtiflL'playfe^’ 
'imash, Impn^i^ti^^a oolpur mc‘ 

■■hjah spe^.|,ni|ie^n^jp^ ^ 


Gauritfet US 


Digltat_J^rts, a budget ibdsed on.'^e non^ 
intfl!Xfi^^Ci,S bar-room skill. 


180 MdstdFtrdmc 


The’lifrt gSme on the n* 
■'ChuF^epntftsl’fnd & mystiq 
m'a'ia'garna. 'U 


Mastertronic 
lot goto; make up this 


All ydljr Feve raves on i^e tape,|A bargain compi¬ 
lation from the variou^jjiif lists of iho computer 
(fjeluStrY. 


Com^lrief^Hits 10 Vol, Jolly 


ij|JI gamjg^ have been around s Trice the days of 
« chsapieJ ot the CPC keep^i the trend 


Fwe-a-Side $ocf:§t>Mdstertronfc 


ion as seen O'h tv. ideal first 
mter use^Wotth C9.&5 for 


GoochJ^peei compj 
buy foPfna'^ew cfj 
Spindizzy elone. % 


Five Sftr Games JteaU'Jo^ 


This game is absalufely nothing fBflC with Ghost- 
busters, it isn't tT;yi^ to cesh in on th^sme but it 
i^sold at budget;]pi^s. ' 


Ghost Hunters Code Masters 


A full suite of .business software low, low price. 

Ideal first sensible software but the 

power for major applications. 


Mini Office II O03b^e 


CompjfatiDr of gamas foj 
jbut goidies, still with jri 
you cw pic^ and cho aTO 


One, oldiest? 
■ri^p^.StJoriS^' 


Olptep thought 
game from Gn 
graphic^jl^ 


StJed in the foe,0a5/-ijirt^,«'ef 
the added hi^tie bf i^ood 


Footballer of the Y^Gremiin Graphics 


One from.llie vaults. Save-^urgtrJtnjjmaflfrwTTTalj 
Itie game wtiiph w^s the/arcade.hif ef yesterye^ 
wd acJ^ua^ly, a Kong gafflffTSf the 64 was oiw:q 
j^eans eerly vtles- 


Donkey Kong Ocaan 


Quirky qygifidbs and polished presentation''give 
you as endless hours of fun as th^f 'tjoard 

g^e, Alsp'ivaitBble for tl^ PC and PCW/ 


Trivial Pursuit 


Ace Amstrad Version of tq a arcade buster, 
i^en the real thing costs ijjp to 6Qp a throw this 
^ame looks super cheap tiu L.p lavft like nothing 


Space Harrier Elite 


you ve seen. 


Let number five come aliy<r i^ 
3D jfWze adventure with a ni' 
bsxut^ Based on the film o1 


I r AmoJdJ-froretty 
n seek oiS^d 
aiSw'h-sifiRe'?^ 


vers ion of th# coin-op 
Comr^Sii^o style for two players. ExcdJIent 
graphics 4ind great fun. 


Aquatic sports simulation at a loW price^ gu idi 
cano® through ^etes end bouldore. Medioene 
O’ s^tes. Requires s supple wri^. 


Atari La&er disc classic. Ju®t chaiiengid^ ff not 
■'qijffirisr^ittyTSR TFe’Smstrad, Large sprites’ welt 
animated. Part II n^ow available. 


Dragons Lair Software Pr^ts 


Fighter PHot, Kung Fu Master.. Ft®j 
GhostbusterS go to make upit^^comi 
pest classics. 


^0 and 
liation of 



Non^mover 


Up 


Down 


New entry APRIL 1987 


Chart compiled by 
Gal I u p/MlicroSoope 


Page 20 


Amstrad User May 1987 































































































GARWOOD SOFTWARE 

S CheJfiisford (0245) 460788 (5 lines) Teiex: 9746S GARWD G 

Freepost: Garwood (WhoiesaJe) Ltd, Freepost, BRENTWOOD, Essex, CM 15 OBR 
FREE 24 Page Colour Catalogue Includes software for IBM PC & Compatible machines 


Orders placed before 4pni. despatched same day (subject to stock availability) 


PCW Software 


FINANCIAL MOOELLINO: 

iUPtPCAlC 3 

CRACKER 2 £49.00 

WOltD PflOCESSINGr 


NEMtAVORO 2 

EA9.00 

ROCKET WORDSTAR 

£49.95 

LOCOMAIL or LOCOSPf ll 

E39,95 

SI*ecial: 

BRAINSTORIVI 

£49.94 

ROTATE 

£24.95 

GRAPHICS: 

□R DRAW 

£49,9$ 

□R GRAPH 

£49.95 


DATABASE hSANAGEMENT fvSTEMS: 

CAAylBASE 2 £49.95 

CAftDBOX tS9.99 

COMDOft I £99.99 

DBASE (I ilt9.M 

iAGE RETRIEVE OR WlAGIC FIIER E69.99 
COMMUNICATIONS i 
iAGE CHPrCKAT (from See Catafo^ue 


ACCOUNTS/PAVnOLLt 

CAMSOFT 
M.A.P. 
iAGF 

COMMUNKATIOKSl 

CHITCHAT titj.as 


(Sec Catalogue 
for detalli) 


GAMES: 

AMSTRA□^SeeCawlogue| £39.95 

BOOKS: 

PC 151 2 TECHNICAL WFf RENCE £ T 9.9S 
LOCOWOTfVF aASJC2 LEER GUfDf £9,95 


[^Hardware & Supplies 


PC 1512 Software 


PCWS25|> iif^e ipreadsfieet, 
daEJtu&e and W/P m^dlnwfge 
Mfrivare worth f 99.90J 


Ii458.$5 Prirrtaf Stands (rmni} 
Amsttad Modem 
CPS*25« fnieffact 


£41.15 
£99.95 
£5T 50 


FINANCIAL MC3DELUNG; 


ACCOUNTS/PAVnOLL: 

CAM50FT Ifiorrt £49 95) oetum on 
M.AP |fnr3mE49DD) appjj„Uon 
5AGE flrom t69 99] 

TRAINimjl 

TOUCH N CK? £24,99 

lAIMKEY £24.95 

AUDIO TUTORIALS £9,95 

GAMES I 

3D CLOCK CHESS f|S,95 

BRIDGE fTATER £19.95 


CRACKER 3 

£69.00 

SUPERCALC 3 

£69,95 

PC P|>V4NER 

£113.85 

WORD PROCESSING: 

WORDSTAR 153 2 

£69.95 

NEWWORO 2 

£99.00 

PC WRITE 

£113.^5 

DATABASEl 

CAMBA5E 

£49.95 

CAPDfiOX 

£59.99 

CONDOR Jft 

£99.99 

II 

£119.00 

DELTA 4 

£99.95 

REFLEX 

£69.95 

RETRIEVE 

£1 ij.as 


£19.95 

£3.32 

£37.57 

ilt.ia 

£11.45 

E4,9S 


Disc Storage Bovei: 3" (up k> 50j or SV," (up tp 60] 

Acco flbraty niei 3^' (up to 7) 59/ (up to lOJ 

Screen filter fPGW Of PC] 

ACCO Eaiyitrlp; 

Duftcover setirPCWa2S6/s512 of pci 512 
□MP 2MHKU1CHK1 Printer 
Discs leosf of 3 Oh Amsoft 3" CF2 £29.90 3M D.^. DiU |PC lormacj £20.7C 

fllttbons: DMPl Ipcf 2} £9.90 DfufPZODOfiOOO £5,50 PCWB25&'aSl 2 £S,S0 

Labels^ ■ i .pdo 3 9/ x 1 LABEL TRAf. K rJ\J FLIP TOP DiSPENSf fl!, iA. 90 

- ZtXM? 3'f/ !i 1 Vi / label track |2 ACAOSSI IN PIA5TIC TRAY - tl 1.00 

CONTINUOUS USTINC PAPER 

2tX)0 shctEiH^f I I" ii 9Vj." Ipt. iSOg. PI Jin lA/ith m*cfo prrfQfdlljDfE £15.95 
20(10 s7i«tS A4 Ipt 70g. Plain with micro pefforatiems E2T.4S 

lOQO sfwets of A4 ]pT. SOg. fiJirl with micro jwrfQraEityli £14,95 


SPECIAL OFFERS 


£5 voucher wUh every software order over £50 
(£10 voucher over £100 or E2S voucher over £200) 
Vouchers can be exchanged with any future order over £10, 



ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT & POSTAGE Special Offers Close 2nd May 



Brentwood Office Supri 

Stationery Prin^ng □Hiceequiomenc CompuMrr Procijc 

149A HIGH STREET, BHENTWOOa ESSEX CIVH 4 

TEL.: tDS77) aB40SB 

LIES 

4SA 




PC 1512 SOFTWARE {CenilnuBd | 1 

pnw fiSAft . 

, £45665 

Sidefcick 

£26.50 

PCW 6512. ... 

,. .676.65 

Cambase ... 

42.50 

CPC 464 Colour Mnnitor 


Conrlor.... 

... .84.95 

plus Free Games Pack. 

.. .299.65 

Cardbox .... _____ -.. — 

.... 51 95 

CPC 6125 CoKRwMonilor. 

...399.95 

Flefnavfi..-.... 

.9695 

1 (FRg£250MjitVaudiiriMtlTAm(k^^ 

Compsofl delta 4... 

....07.50 ' 



Compsoft domino.. 

.. 07.50 

PCiSiaCcnpilM... 

.... POA 

CompMfl Bookworkar...... 

.. .175.00 

PCW SOFTWARE 


Comcaci Accounts Programs... 

P.O.A 

Microlile'MicrDwofd. 

... .43.56 

M A.P Accounts Programs .. . 

.. PO.A. 

Pocltet Wordstar. 

,...42.50 

Sagesofi Acccunia Programs . 

... P.O.A. 

Pocket Wordstar D.' L... 

,,.. 59.95 

Gem Programs ... 

.... P.OA 

Supercaic 2 . 

..,.42.50 

Digital Research Programs. 

.P.OA 

l (vyiniftil ...... 

..,. 34.50 

Fleel Streel Editor,,,. 

.132.50 

LxKospell.. 

....34.50 

Open Access__ —. 

.132.50 

dBase II. 

...101.95 

G Base... 

.B7.50 

Condor 1 ... 

.84.95 

Volkswriter da Luxa_... 

.39.50 

Cambase.. 

..,.43.50 

BANT OTHER TTILES AVAILABLE - 1 

Cardbox.. 

....51 95 

ALL AT DISCOUlWT PRICES 1 

Dfl Grapfi. 

....4350 

PC 1512 Games...,.i 

low Hi Slock 1 

Dfl Draw... 

43.50 

1 CPC Games... Laiesi iitles avadabie | 

Database Manager jAi lasti.. 

....27.50 

SUt^DRIES 


3D Clock. Chess. 

....13.96 

PCW JoysticlL Interface.. 

_13.S5 

Colossus Clwss -. 

....13.»5 

PCW Prinier Extension Lead .. 

.10-95 

, Bridge Player..... 

....16.95 

464.'6126 Monilor Ext Lead Krt 

9.95 

Tnvial Pursuit. 

....10.50 

Twin Joystick Load. 

.4.96 

PC 1512 SOFTWARE 


Autdire Interface . 

.6.95 

Wor[falarl5l2.. 

....59.95 

AMX Mouse ICasseto & Discji. 

.62.50 

New Word 2... 

.... B4.S0 

Mouse Mai.... 

.4.95 

Oracker 3... 

.... 53.95 

Eufotwajt Joysticks 


Supercalc 3.. ..... - 

....59.95 

jFull range available]. 

.. Irom 995 

We fltecr stoci( - PCW, DMPl, 

2000 S 3000 Ribbons, Listing Paper: {Micro Perff 1 

1 60 gsm 11 X 9V!.^ 70, eo 5 90 asm A4, Compuler Lalseks -Atf al compemve fu-icas. 1 

1 Send S.A.E. for supplies price fis^. Prices include VAT but not carnage. 

1 

1 Pofsonal callers - Ptease telephone for availabilrty. Acc«it iind Vlw accepted. 1 

1 Postage; Programs £1, all cdier items al cost. 

A.?nL rae? 1 


TYPESETTING 

With your 

AMSTRAD COMPUTER 

from £1.50 per 1000 chaiacteis I 

Enter your data onto your computer and key in the I 
data, tables etc, in the position you would wish the 
final typeset version to be, no need to enter special 
and confusing typesetting commands, oui system 
requires raw text only. 

The text is then sent to our page make-up facility 
where each individual page is made up to youi 
specifications. 

We have four years experience 
typesetting from disk. 

We specialise in 

books, magazine typesetting, reports - especially 
computer manuals and foreign language manuals. 

Foi more information or if you wish to discuss a 
specific job please contact 
Kim or Milan at 

KAMSET 

34 Rayleigh Road, Hutton, Brentwood, Essex 

Telephone (0277) 218676 ' 


Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 21 




















































































IREMI 


OPTWAREI 

"Without a doubt Siren Softwoie hove produced some ot the best disc utilities 
ever seen on the Amstiod range of computers.' AmtExI January 1 W 

★ NEW ★ DISCOVERY PLUS ★ new ★ 


DISCOVHIY 



Tape rp ^sscTranstef Pro^f am 




AM&TRAD 
CfC 4&4-i'E64.'517fl 


Pie litimafe tape to disc transfer program 

‘Discovery PPjs must be the most advanced and probatsiymost efffchnt tape to disc transfer utUffy 
to ddte'Amstrod Action Doceinbor 198A 

This program wilf transfer more games to disc than any other transfer program. The first person who 
can prove otherwise will receive twice his money bock!! 

Discovery Plus consists of 4 ©osy to us© programs that together will transfer an e)dremety high 
proportion of your software onto cfsc, 

Also included is details on howtotronsfer over 100 games. 

SHverScrewctiver Award AmtixlJanijary 1937 
Discovery Pfui antyiil4.99 cw cMsc for the 464/664/6 }2B 
Updates 

If you have our old Discovery program send It bock to us ond we will send you the New Discovery 
Plus for only £&.99 for £8,99 If you have discovery orr tope), 

Transmot owners, send us your Transmat to receive a ^.50 discount If you have the disc version of 
Transmat or £1.00 if you hove the tape version of Tronsmat, 


* NEW* HANDYMAN ★ NEW* 

FORMAI YOUR DISCS TO 41 £K 

Handyman the unique disc enhancement package allows you to manage, use and get more 
from your discs. Look at these unique features: 

* Format your discs to 416K C20SK per side on a stondard CF2 disc) 

* Save unwanted dscs onto tape to release exper^sive disc space 

* Full disc/ftle search and edit. Find and alter messages in programs 
' Superb menu maker pLfts a menu selection system an your discs 

* RIemate displays ASCII flies, finds text in files, prints files etc etc 

'Sren has come up wfth anofher marvelous piece of soffu^cff©'Amstrad Action December 19&6 
'This is just about the best disc utffiiy that I have hod to use" Amtix! Jan fl7 
Am tix! Goiden Screwdriver Award Jan 37 

Handyman on disc tor the 4A4/6A4/A128 only £12,99 



* * MASTER DISC * * 



THE DISC USERS UTILITY 

Master Disc contains a disc copier, directory editor, fast formatter, sector eaitor, deprotector, disc 
and tape header readers, trans disc, trans lope, disc rrrop, typefile, dumpfile ft zlpdisc, 

'the package seems to work very wetl on the fijrf ronge of machfnes' Amtix! June 36 

'Each section is My documented v4th dear and precise ihsfructroos'Amfixl Jur^e 66 

'this Siren package realty does offer you Quite a ht for yourmcxToy'Amstrad Action June 86 

'So far we have yet to find a cRscthatitcarvyot copy from, it even copies unformatted cases' Amtix! 

June 1986 

Master disc available on disc only £12.99 tdr Ihe 464/664/6129 


TAPE UTILITY 


464 OWN ERS. LOAD IN VOUR SOFTWARE AT UP TO 4 TIMES THE NORMAL SPEED 

Tape Utility will allow you to moke back up copies of yoLM tape base software that will toad ot up to 4 
times the normol speed. 

.. .So easy to use, simple one key operation 

... Handles up to 42K (Approx) In on© go 

.,. Will copy normal, headerless, speedlock ft flashtoaders 

... Tests have shown that it will back up about 90% of all Amstiod software 

... Choice of 10 speeds up to 4000 baud 

,,, Removes protection from basic ft speedlock programs 

"Simply the best, the tape to tape backup copier to beat oil tap© to tap© backup copters*. 
AMSCLUB 

... Written specifically for the 464, this is not o Spectrum conver^on 

TAPE UTIUTY ON TAPE ONLY£6.99. AMSTRAD CPC464ONLY 


Tape Utility 



smei SOFTWARE 


AMSTR.AD CPC W 



Print 

Master 


Print ffilMncciiMni 
And iHilitftt 

AJWSTRAD46A Bfrt'Siaa 


PRINT MASTER 

The printer utility arto enhancement pockoge. No printer owner should be without this. 

This unique suit© of programs will allow you to-make the most of your DMF^OO or any Epson compatible 
printer. 

* Superb large 16 shade printer dump of any imode 0 screen 
' Lorge bloc k ond white dump of any screen in a ny m ode 

" Fast character dump of screen 
' Amazing 16K interrupt driven printer buffer 

" Pint out files from most wordprocessofs (Protext, Tasword etc) iin a variety of fonts, sizes and styles. 

Inc fud© screen dum ps os illustrations 

* 10 great fonts included 

* A terrific forit designer allows you to creat your own fonts 

This spectacular package Is available on disc only tor your Amsfrod 464/664/6128. Or\ly £12.99 on disc. 



Siren Software, 2/4 Oxford Road, 
Manchester Ml 5€MTel: 061 226 1831 



Page 22 


Amstrad User May 1987 



































































































Hairy Hacker coding bright 
In the darkness of the night 
As thou peer deep to see 
Magic pokes in disassembly 


First off, thanks to Madame Cyn for 
throwing that really great party on the 
Ed's birthday last month. He loved the 
cake, but the girl didn't like it when he 
bit into her. 

Last month: SelUby soup. This 
month, snifT-by soup. This is really last 
month's sell-by soup that's getting a bit 
dubious. 

Some of the soup has developed quite 
well, biologically speaking. We won¬ 
dered if it might have developed any 
form of intelligence yet, so we devised a 
test for the intelligence of soup. It’s 
called: The Tureen Test, 

Straight in then, with a very silly one 
from Steve Clarke of Ipswich, He has 
noticed that if you hold down Caps 
Ijock, Up Cursor, t!3,f5,f7 and fB while 
playing Thrust, your score increases at 
about 40,000 points a minute. This also 
boosts your lives up to about 20 after 
five minutes with your fingers 
spreadeagled over the keyboard, like 
some evangelist laying on hands. 

Now a brief interval, during which 
Justin will play the West Bank Infinite 
Lives concerto with a major checksum, 

Amstrad Ua«r May 19B7 


Rewind, run and enjoy: 


n 


1:WEH0RT filFfF 




?EI 

load 





n 

tQt=0 





40 

FOB n 

'SBE00 TO SBE20 




^0 

RE.AD 

aS:i=VAL(T*3£) 




60 

POKE 

n,a:ttiE=tC!t+a 




70 

NEXT 

n 




£0 

IF toto2693 THEN PRINT 

"suiming wrong 


Nitit 

that thtre datai 


m 


90 

CALL 

BBE00 




100 

SATA 

21,00,20,11,00, 

01 

/01 

,00 

110 

DATA 

02,td,b0,21,19, 

be 

,3e 

,c3 

120 

DATA 

32,52,01,22,63, 

01 

,c3 

,00 

130 

DATA 

01,3f,32,dd,92, 

c3 

,^0 

,91 

U0 

DATA 

43 





A Mrs. April Rigby, no fooling, has 
wntted in (in a recycled Visa envelope) 
asking for Fairlight pokes; for a Joyce. 


Well, when you have a device called a 
Z80 emulator, pokes are easy to find 
and just as easy to get in. 

Unfortunately, putting pokes into 
Joyce games is a bit tricky at your end. 

If anyone beats me to the Fairlight 
Joyce hack, it should be worth Hack of 
the Month . . . 

Speaking of which, we have a letter 
here from a certain El Hosko, post¬ 
marked in Germany and with a return 
address in Berkshire. Are you trying to 
confuse me or what? No matter, the 
letter contains two pokeyettes which 
might interest you. 

One is for Heartland fwhich I haven’t 
got and can’t test), the other is for 
Gauntlet, Yes 1 know we've had Gaunt¬ 
let before, but this one’s different. 

So, here's the poke for the disc ver- 

Page 2S 






























1^ 



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money, plan your budgets, sort out your files and 
manage your time far more effectively. 

PI unit's three main modules - Personal Accounts, 
Financial Diary and Card Index - take care of all 


personal organiser 

your day-to-day activities and help you rationalise 
your future financial position. 

And there are two extra utilities — a Loan 
Calculator and a Calendar - to complete this 
remarkable package. 


Penonctl Accounts Gives you up-to-the minute facta about your jiTian- 
cLal position at any time. Keeps separate accounts of your banking, cash 
tranaactione, credit card payments. Allows 24 individual accounts, up to 
nine different credit cards (and warns you when you reach your cash limit) 
and as many as 400 different transactions a month. Sets up your standing 
ordenj. Automatically updates relevant accounti with each transaction. 

Card indejt Create your own address book, phone directory, tape library 
title lUt. Use the flexible editor to enter or amend data. Sort and search. 
Call up detailed reports on contents in any form. Produce mailing labels on 
your printer. 

Firianeral Diary All the features of the best desktop diary - plus much 
more. Enter up to 15 items per day and have them automatically sorted in 
time order. Add your expenses and have them totalled in separate 
categories. Speed search for entries, then mark them for future manipul¬ 
ation or replication. 


DATABASE SOFTWARE 


I Please send me; PlanTt CPC on lap& i:i4.a5*( } disc ££19.95*t > 

I Planlt PCW rm disc £5i4,95 H ) 

I * Europe add £2 Ouerseas Ainnoc/ odd £ 5 . 

□ I enclcuae chefiue pjjyable to Database Software "or 

□ Please debit my Access-'ViJui card number 

I II 11 ^ ^ r I I I ^ I ■ ' * i i i 1..J 

I Name__ 

Addrew_!__—-- 


Signature. 


Send io: Dauxhase S^tfiware, Etftvjxi Houmf, fJS CfccsftT Rood,, \ 

fioxel Qmve, Stackpurt SK7 &NY, ACUPS_| 


I Haze! (Jrave, Stnekpurt SK 


I 























































"iiuiJ!!iuji'r"iJ^J""JJ.:... 

.. 'Ov "-S' 


. S=: 


■ i$-- -Si. 




.. ■■■?’ ^■ 




si on of Heartland: 

10 PIEHDPV •Vifa'.tzm 

^0 INPUT "Infinite energy (jf/n)';a$:IF U 
PPfR$(a£)=T THEN POKE 
S^FEE.SFF 

30 INPUT "Infinite time (y/n)';at:If UPP 
ERi(aS)=''V THEN PCKE 
i2CE5,0;POKE S?Cf 6,0: PdlCE S^CE7,0 
50 ERL um 


R-un that^ and I am assured that the 
accompanying maps will almost guar¬ 
antee success. 

Not only but also, we have pokettes 
for the fabled Gauntlet, This poke will 
run the game (running the Gauntlet?), 
but with options to dissable generators, 
freeze the monsters and the time, and - 
of course — infinite lives. 

Type in the listing below (kindly 
retyped by the Wife), save it on a differ¬ 
ent disc (Gauntlet gets unhappy when 




you save things on it) and run. Put the 
real Gauntlet disc in when it asks for it, 
or you won’t gel too far. 


10 a20Ff 

20 FOR 1=41000 TS 4104T:REftP a;P0KE i,a: 

NEKT 
50 DAffl 

&21,Ue,Ss0,atcl,Ad4,&bc,fi22,S-4f,aa0,!79 
,&32,S51,B^0,i1t,£00,S16,S00,60 
e,B41 
40 DMA 

S21,S00,631,&df,S4f,aa0,6te,B00,S1*/i00 

e,£c:9,S£4,B0,S0,$0 

50 PRINT^lnsert ^HHRtC24)t"SAUNTLE^"■^CH 
fii(24)+‘' disc B prts^ 
entenwHiLE 
60 EA’LL BA023 

70 foil i-B30F2 TO B30FF;I(EAD a:P0K£ 

40 DATA &21,B0»,S5Uai1,B&0,B0G40hi40, 
B02^Bed,rS-b0,B£5,£00,B01 
90 adc)-B32D&:POKt add,.SAFtPOKt £319E,SD0 
:Pm B3l?F,i2 

1&0 INPUT’Dlsable gtntrat&rs Clf/NT;tiS 
110 IF (b$='n OR (l3J='y') THEN FOt \ = \ 

TO S:add-addM:ftEAD atPQKE 

atjd^sjJ^EKT 

m DATA S21,B3a,BS5,B77,i23,S77,Ba5,677 
150 l!JPLfrFre«ze nC'ns.ters [y/Nr;bl 

u& IF (b3-='r) OR (bi-yi then for i=i 

TO 8:add=addG :READ aiPOKE 
add/diNEKT 

150 MTA B2!,&bf,8i3,B77,B23,B77,i2i,S77 
140 INPUT7f«eze time TT/«]";tl 
170 IF (b£=‘r) OR (1 jJ= 7‘) THEN FOR i = 1 
TO I6iadd=3dd^1jREAD a:P0KE 
add,a:NEKT 
1B0 DATA 

S21,&f5,B99,&77423vS77,S?3,677,B2GB05 
,B9s,B77,£23,877,B23,677 
190 POKE add+1,BC5:P0KE idd<^2,B0:PO<E id 
dG,6£4 

200 [ALL &50F2 


For his extreme persistence^ loyalty, 
couraget impertinence and so on, El 
Hosko gets (tatatadaaaa) the coveted 
Poke of the Month Award. Just let me 
know what your favourite games are, 
and well try to get you one of them, OK 
Hosko? 

Noiv for making impossibatl possiball 
to anyone, here's another Justin 


special. Windo forwardo past la firsto 
fileo sed runo la routineo. 



W^ho sent me two sheets of blank 
paper? 

While everyone fails to admit it^ have 
another one from Justin's selected 
finest pokes box. This one’s for esca¬ 
lating prospects in Elevator Action: 

Wind forward past the first file. 


10 HOPE 0iOPEN0U7 "d':N£HCFRr 8FFF 
20 BORDER 0:FOft p=0 TO U:READ ailNK p,4 
:NEXr 

30 LOAD ■'!scn‘,aC000 
40 LOAD ■'Sacf 

50 PCKE S144E,0:POKE BU8F^0 
60 POKE 11490,0:POICE BU95,0 
70 CALL i59A2 

M DATA 0,26,14,13,24,6,2,9,3,16,1,10,18 

J;7 


You’re probably still wraiting for 
CliflTs infamous map editor and stuff 
for Street Machine, aren’t you ? Well, 
waiting time is over. After much 
sweating over a hot keyboard (thank 
God for sealed switches), here it is. 

First type ye famouse listing. 
Remember that the artwork depart¬ 
ment has been known to mis-label 
stuffs, so see which one looks right. 
Stick in a blank tape/di sc* and save the 
program. If you don’t save it, you’ll 
have to type it in every time. Great 
typing practise^ but lousy gameplay. 

If all goes well (unlikely ), youll get a 
message suggesting that now is prob¬ 
ably a very good time to put in your 
real Street Machine tape and press play 
and so on. The proggy doesn’t load 



Moon base 


Amstrad User May 19S7 


KEY 

B...bed 


P-W....page — white 

P’D.page - dark 


□(a-s)........ lifts 

\ i(i-8)..,. connections 




Page 25 










































































































































































































10 REH ** Cli1f 'On-e tuci pushes^ La 
usflns 

20 Rtn ** fsBOiis Street Htchint poke, si 
ight Ly 

50 RM ** p&lLuted by tJie “Sm^Ll ’furry 
40 REM ** creature froi tlie Crab nebula’ 
Sfl REH ** special Loader. 

6fl REH ** 

100 HObE 1:L0CflTE 1,23 
110 Loc=£3000;L=1000 
120 READ aS,at(i=0 
130 IF at="*' THEI^ 230 
140 PRINT Tine 1;CHRSC13J; 

1?0 IF LENtaS)<>52 TtfEN 270 
160 FOR i“1 TO 32 STEP 2 
170 J!=VAL^T’^MII^^(a3,j,^n:cs=ci4x 
180 POKE loc,K:Lfic=lac’^1 
190 NEXT 

200 IF csoa then 270 
210 cBt-cst+cs: 1= 1 + 10 
220 GOTO 120 

230 IF c&t<>66a67 TKEN 290 
240 CALL SS000 

250 PRINT Type TAPE and run egein.^ 

260 m 

270 PRINT iPRINTTheck line for errors^ 

280 PRINT "and SAVE TT.TEND 

290 PRINT "I tbink you ftiss- i line.' 

300 END 

1000 DATA 21108011000C01FF03EAB0C3000C00 
00,1085 

1010 DATA 2t000f060S1100C0Cl)77BC2ie0T2CD 
83,1178 

1020 DATA BCCD7A&C3EC9324F233EC932412D21 
27,1625 

1030 DATA 0C22552ACi0&12F5E5D5C53E3ACDlE 
BB,1812 

1040 MTA 2S0CAFC&0EBCCDSC0CCDEF0C18163E 
3C,1567 

1050 DATA [D1EBB2S05CD2B0E180A3E24CD1EBB 
28,1323 

1060 DATA &3CD480E:1D1E1F1CD0DBDC9010000 
C5,1968 

1070 DATA CDCS0CCDD40CCDEABBC10321C044AF 


FD, 2375 

1080 DATA 4220ECCD870CC9C5E10100&011A000 
AF,1662 

1090 DATA ED520330fBl9C9212EFCl19£C706l4 
3E,1640 

1100 DATA C07712231310F83E40212JFrCCDeg0C 
3E,1366 

1110 DATA 002142FCCDBB0:2150F(j1U0C606S0 
3E,1673 

1120 DATA C&77l223l3T0FAC9065277l1&0&ai9 
30,1155 

1130 DATA 0411 50C01910f3C9217f38l}97ECDE6 

OC, 1576 

1140 DATA CDDEBBC9CD770C2929EBC5E129ESC1 
21,2386 

1150 DATA 9fl0lAFED42C921890E5Fl600197EC9 
21,1510 

1160 DATA B02222070F22090FCD4B0DCD06BBFE 
FC,1521 

1170 data CA0012FEF02ei8FEF12822FEF22S2A 

FE, 2179 

1180 DATA f3282fFEF6(A010EFEF7CA160EieD9 
2A,2069 

1190 DATA 070fllA000AFED5222090Fl«CB2A07 
0F,1042 

1200 DATA llA0001922090Fl8Bf2A070F2e2209 
0F,640 

1210 DATA 18B62A070F23£2090fieAD2A070FE5 
Cl,1046 

1220 DATA CDC80CCDD40GCD£ABG2A090F22070f 
E5,1£23 

1230 DATA 3E01C6598CC1CDD40C3E0FCDDEBBCD 
EA,2297 

1240 DATA Be3E00CD59BCCD7D0fr:D5D0E{92A07 
0F,1651 

1250 DATA 2B2B017EC4CDB10D2A070F2B0182C4 
CD,1443 

1260 DATA S10D2A070F0186C4CDB1&D2A070F23 
01,1080 

1270 DATA aAC4CDB10D2A070F2323018EC4CDfil 

OD, 1597 

1280 DATA {9117F58191lC0FE193E05f57tCDC9 
0D,1771 

1290 data 11A00019F15D20F5C9FE7E38023E19 


E5,1734 

00 data 6F26002929292929291T407D19I0C5E1 
,1283 

1310 DATA CCE70DE5C1E1C90610C506041A7725 
13,1725 

1320 DATA 10FA01FC07093005Af0150C009C110 
E9,1487 

1330 DATA C92A070F22090Fl17F3ei97E3CfE7E 
20,1146 

1340 DATA 0lAFr7C3f80C2A070F22090Fll7Fl3 
19,1097 

1350 DATA 7EB720023E7E5D77C3F60C21100F06 
06,1242 

1360 DATA 1100C0CD8CeC217F3S112044010000 
3E,1138 

1370 DATA 02CD98SCCD8FBCC921100F06061100 
C0,1569 

1380 DATA £D770C2l7nB{D83BCCD7ABC£92A0r 
0F,2032 

1390 DATA 117F38197ED60701A1C51E07CD750E 
3C,1364 

1400 DATA 01D3C51E07D5F5C5CDC9@Di:l210400 
09,1759 

1410 DATA E5C1F13CD11D20EDC9020102020202 
02,1444 

1420 DATA 0282020C0C0C0C08080S0C0C0C0C08 
08,142 

1430 DATA 080801010606010C0C0C0C0C010101 
02,96 

1440 DATA 0A020604040e0B0B0B040[01010101 
02,97 

1450 DATA 010102010102010308080903010285 
09,57 

1460 DATA 0701010F0F0F8F8D0D0D0404040484 
0E,142 

1470 IhATA 0B040G050505050A0A08080A0A0A0C 
0C,136 

1480 DATA 0A0C0[020i;06060606010606888000 
00,93 

1490 DATA 0000000505000B000000004D434F44 
45,370 

1500 DATA 4E45574D4150000000000000000000 
00,456 

1510 DATA *,0 


anything off the tape until the fourth 
program, called ^^MCODE”, If you want 
to save a bit of time, scribble down the 
point at which this bit starts on an old 
fag packet, yotir fiiofax or whatever. 
The game needs a buffer in which to 
put the data. ClifP used the screen, so 
don’t worry about the technicolour 
effects inflicted upon the screen Huring 
loading. 

When the game loads up and dumps 
the score table on the screen^ you can 
start playing as normal, but you won’t 
be troubled by minor breakdoivna. 

However, should you feel like 
redesigning the map to something 
approaching the complexity of spa¬ 
ghetti Junction^ press the E key. Before 
your very eyes, and anyone elses if 
they’re watching, the whole shape of 
the map will be revealed. Eventually, 
Also appearing on the screen is a 
small bright dot^ which you will soon 
learn is capable of being moved about 
by the cursor keys^ YouVe learned 
now, ’cos 1 just told you. 

Any’waySt once dot is learnedly 
moved to the right point on the map. 

Page 26 


you can scroll through all the pretty 
curves, hedges, cars, sheep and other 
possible shapes with the shifted left and 
right keys. Clever eh? Even cleverer is 
the provision whereby you return to 
the front screen with the Escape key. 

Ail very well, 1 hear you say, but how 
do us rnortals save the result to tape? 
Haha, you. hear me answer^ press the S 
key when in the front screen. It'll then 
save the map to tape. 

If you don't want the messages all 
over the screen from the tape routine, 
add line 70 CALL &BC6BJ , This is 
in fact one of those cunning u&es of put¬ 
ting n parameters after a call to pass 
the number n to a subroutine. 

OK, so you’ve saved your mega- 
tricky map. Now 1 suppose you want to 
load it in again later? How did 1 guess? 
Well, hit the L key while in the front 
screen and it’ll start looking. 

Sorry that the lives aren't infinite, 
but if you couldn't get to the menu you 
couldn’t get to the screen designer+ 
could you? 

Ho hum, back to Just-a-poke. One I 
could do with here, infinite macho 


energy for ghost hunter. Got any Ego 
boosters Justin? 


10 

lODE 

1:HEH0(fy 

12545 

20 

load 



30 

FOR 

^=SA4FC TO 

SA502 

40 

READ 

&E:PQKE n 

.VALfT+iiEl 

50 

NEJfT 

n 


60 

CALL 

8A4A0 


70 

DATA 

af ,32,cD 

82,13^73,61 


Phrase of the month: As user- 
friendly as a cornered rat. 

Next we have a few helpful tints and 
hips here for Dan Dare fans, courtesy of 
Alexis, Edward, and Martin of 
Sunderland: 

# Don’t go down a lift until you've blas¬ 
ted everything on a level as you can’t go 
back up again. 

# When you’re getting the fourth brid¬ 
ging piece, or heading for the Mekon's 
rocket, don’t shoot the things that look 
like telegraph poles. These block your 
path and you’ll never win. 

# Never try to duck or jump a Tree, 
although it's OK to do this with floor 
guns. 


Amstrad User May 1987 






















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1^ AMU 5/^7 


Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 27 



























Mach I 

Pf'ctiably the 

Joystick in the 

• Auto Fire 

• Microswitch 
Pire Buttons 

• Metal Shaft 

• Microswitch 
Sdirecfional 
controls 
•12 Month 
warranty. 


Amdruin Digital Oruir 

systsrnfortht 

664, 6128. 


125 + ^ 

Joystick m 

• 4 extremely ^ 
sensitive fire 
buttons 

>• Auto fire switch^ 

* Strong base xMl 
I suction cups 

I • Uniquely j 

I styled hand grip * 

L 12 Month warranty 


tnabies 2 


_ . ^ Amstrad 
[peripherals to be 
connected to the 
computer bus. 


CHEETAH MARKETING LTD 

1 willowbrook science park 

CRICKHOWEJ.L ROAD.STmELLONS.CARD lFf 
TEE:CARDIFF(0222}777337 TELEX;497 j55 
FAK:0222 77P404 


Aerial 

/ ^ splitter 

[\ Cheetah’s neat] 

splitter unit 
complete 

with 

— ^f-adhesive pad 

Hows you to ^g'^piugged in] 
omputer aerial leads Piugg 

without disturbing the pictur - | 


KITS AVAILABUE 
FOR AMDRUM 

Latin Kit 

& Editor .£3.99 

Electro Kit 

& Editor.£4,99 

Atro Kit .£4.99 

Mini Interface to 

connect MKSkeyboard 
to 464,664, 

612a .£29.95 


Cheetah, pro^iicls avatLsbIe from branches of 

Olaiin^ 

WHSMITH* Slernmfit^KKl coivut* 

dho(H. 


Prices include VAT, poslage & packlnQ. 
Delivery rvormally 14 days. 

Export orders at rtoewlracosl |w 
Dealer enquiries welccHT*e 



























yja;; , -1 









HACKING I 



• When you've just given Oigby a brid¬ 
ging piece, never try to shoot the gun 
that moves up and down the edge. 
Youll be more likely to fall off. 

Who knows, m^aybe you 11 be able to 
do it without the pokes. 

For those of you who use Borland's 
Turbo Pascal on the Airo^ the following 
procedurette behaves much like the 
normal draw procedure in high res 
mode. The clever bit is that it lets you 
use all 16 colours available on the 
PC 1512. It doesn't break any records 
for speed in the line-drawing stakes, 
but it works: 


Procedure C&rauUl,i£,y2/C!integerl; 
CQn&t 

r_pLane=S3de; 

w_plene=3ld[l; 

var Tfirf ifnteger; 

r:^0 ; w:=1 ; 
repeat 
I be^in 

port[r_pl$ne]i = r ; port [w-pt arve] : = « ; 
if (e AND w)'0 then 
Draut si 

ei&e 

r:=sycc(r) ; w:=u*2 
tPd; 

urttiL y=1fi; 

port[r._pLane]; portthf_planfl']: = 15; 

end; 

I have been asked ‘'Why does Turbo 
Pascal compile faster to disc than to 
memory?” Answer: it doesn^t but if 
you've just compiled it in memory, 
compiling to disc just writes the bit in 
memory off 

Amstrad User May 1987 


C has been described as an enciyp- 
tion system for assembler. Arnor is 
bringing one out for the CPCs and 
Borland is about to release a version 
(aversion?) of it for the PC 1612 scKin. 
As soon as I get a copy. 111 rig graphics 
stuff for that too. 

But enough, those of you not on ACt/ 
salaries will only have humble 464s, so 
here's infinite lives for that amazingly 
complex - and slightly familiar - 
Classic Muncher from Bubble Bus. 


10 

mt 

1;0P£N0UT ‘d’lFlEilOftT &4fF 

20 

LOAD 

",£500 


30 

P&KE 

3561,0 


40 

POKE 

3562,0 


50 

POKE 

3563,0 


60 

POKE 

3364,0 


70 

FOR n 

=i70 TO 

B7D 

S0 

REAI> 

ji:P0KE 

n,VAL(T*at) 

90 

NEKT 

n 


100 

DATA 

21,00, 

05,11,00,01,01,00 

110 

DATA 

94,td. 

b0,e3,03,01 

120 

CALL 

S70 



Now the Oz spot. Robbie Noordzy 
(alias: The Hopeless Hacker) has writ¬ 
ten in a.sking for a Ghosts 'n' Goblins 
pokeykin. Well, too late. It was in the 
September ’86 issue (wasn't it ed?). 

Remember, replies only come 
through the column, which doesn't cost 
me anything. Tm not in to sending let¬ 
ters to the land of Fosters, as this would 
be detremental to the Hairy Hacker’s 
bank account (I get 50 per cent of the 
Ozzie mailbag). You keep on sending 
'em to me, OK? 

Now Justin time for a really snakey 
poke for infinite lives in Oceans Cobra: 

(The quick may note that this routine 
is almost identical to that of Xeviousd 


10 HQDE 1:HEH0ftT 12345 
20 LOAD 
30 t'jt=0 

40 FOR n=4A700 TO Sfl74a 
30 RIAD aJ:f=VAl(T4aS) 

60 POKE 

70 NEH n I 

50 IF lot<>7303 THEN PfliNrhavt a took a 
E the data, its urori^i'tENB 

m DATA dd,21,00,hni1^4fJ0,cd 
110 DATA 4«,b&,21,c3,1a,11,a7,af 
m DATA 2?Jt,bf,ed,53,1d,b-f,c3 
!30 DATA 00,bf,21,00,fl0,22,caAe 
140 DATA 27,cc,4e,c5,00,4lj,3e,i8 
150 DATA 21,67,fc,32,00,02,22,01 
160 DATA 02/f3,f1,c9,3e,c3,21>26 
170 DATA a7,32,e2,39,22,e3,3?,21 
1B0 DATA ff,ab,11,40,00,c3,af,39 
1^0 DATA 43 


Two more left from Justin and I can 
go to sleep. So in rapid succession, 
here’s infinite lives for Durrell's 
SIGMA 7: 


10 mi 0:OPENOUT "d^ftEHORT fi&FF 
20 FOft fi=0 TO 15:R£AD aHNK [i,a:N£)(T 
30 FQ« fi=1 TO 3:«EAD a,b 
40 OUT CBBC001,a:OUT (SfiD00),b 
50 «EXf n 
60 BORDER 0 

70 LOAD tsig£c;i^BC000 

aO LOAD ‘‘!^S{00 

90 FOR n=l TO 3:REAfr a 

100 POKE a,0JPOKE (at4),0:POKE fa*5),0 

110 NEXT fi 

120 mi 1:IKK 1,18:1NK 3,6 
150 CALL a3236 

140 DATA 0,6,1,26,24,3,2,13,25,14,26,11, 
3,la,3,6 

150 DATA 1,32,2,45,6,24 
160 DATA 21251,32026,32340 


If you looksie into the basic file at the 
start of Sigma 7 it tells you how^ bo 
remov^e the copyright shmear. On, in 
quick succession, with infinite lives for 
Disc and Cassette versions of Bombjack 
2 . 

Either rewind to start of tape or for¬ 
ward past first file, or insert the disc 
then run the program, take your pick: 


10 

ftCDE 

0:MEMORT fi175B 

20 

BORDER 0 

30 

FOR 

n-0 TO 15:READ a:lNK n,a:UEn 

40 

LOAD 

'! b?s^^ee^^.birr',£0000 

50 

LOAD 

'Ib^codfl.binViUSC 

60 

POKE 

B1£EA,0 

70 

POKE 

£31BA,0 

m 

CALL 

£1770 

90 

DATA 

0,26,l,a,11,10,14,5,20,15,21,25, 


6,3, 

12,24 


Before collapsing into a deep slumber 
(like some of you probably have 
already) > a small quiz: Q, How many 
programmers does it take to change a 
light-bulb ? A. None, it’s a hardware 
problem. 

Bve! Luv VAX 


Page 29 




































































THE BUSINESS CENTRE 


PC 1512 SOFTWARE 


ACCOUNTS PACKAGES 


Corrpact Daytjook CSS.CO 

Conpati Aocajnta EITfl.OO 

Conpaii Sales JnvoilHTg CeQ.OO 

Cornpad sales Udwr £7100 

Compact PurchasA L«dg«r £70.00 

Confvact Nominal Ladgaf £70.00 

Gairpact Reporting £49.00 

Sage Book-heepor £99.00 

ACCdUntE £l4a,[]0 

Sa^ JM^OOUnts Pint £190.00 

Sa^ financial Controfcr ^OOlOO 

IniuilwSoDkicMper ^sl-qd 

Map mregrded eisSlSO 

Monay Pcwar COOlOO 

Bookworker [179.0) 

DAC Easy £95.0) 

DAC Easy MaE» £4995 

DACEaay Tuler C29eS 

OAO Easy Pon £39.os 


SPREADSHEETS 


Supeveaki 3 

£6495 

Supercalc* 

£349.00 

Scraciipad + 

Sage PC Plaimw 

VP Planner 

£49.50 

£9A,SD 

£90100 

Plannerj Choke 

£34.99 

MuRplan JUhifir 

£59195 

Desktop 

£69L« 

1 DATABASES 1 

Sage Rdiieve 

Dana* 

£90.00 

£44.00 

Card box 

E4flL50 

Condor Junior 

£44 00 

ContiaaQ 

£39.90 

Ref lac 

£549$ 

VP Into 

£00.00 

d Baee FI 

£99.00 

Fliers Choke 

£3499 

PC PromfM 

£59.99 

l>ACEa9.y6»e 

£49.95 

^upetoasa Petsonal 

£6095 

£69.95 

1 WORD PROCESSORS I 

Wordeiai' 151£ 

£54.95 

Sage PC Write 

£95.50 

WofO Perfect Junior 

£95.00 

TaewHd PC 

£22.00 

VdkeM'ller 

£44.96 

GEM Write 

£0000 

ise word PliB 

£699$ 

Word Junior 

£5096 

DACEaayWord II 

£4096 

1 INTEGRATED SOFTWARE 1 

LogkSx 

PSiON PC Four 

E9a00i 

£6000 

Ahiel 

£9a00 

Ab«y 

£909$ 

Open Aoooh 

£139.9$ 

V^de X f 

£6000 

1 LANGUAGES 1 

Tuibo Pajscal 

£0095 

Tuibo Tutor 

£2096 

TurbOi Prolog 

£69.95 

ZodandC 

£2995 

UspMSDOC 

CConpiler 

£22000 

£34600 

1 COMh/IUNlCATlONS SOFTWARE 1 

Daldalk 

nSCLOO 

Cn»atalt 

neooo 

Chh Chat 

£9000 

GemOorti 

CflOBS 

1 DESKTOP PUBLISHING 1 

Ventura 

£699.00 

Fieri Street Edior 

£139.00 

PUm Master 

£29.95 

Autoakrioh 

£89.00 


LEISURE SOFTWARE 


SorroMwd Tima 
Minds ha dofw 
Alter 

Ctiampimsnti Golf 
Hadw 
Hackarll 
LMlhar GcKfdeea 
C)m» i| Chew 
Plmidp II 
Alax Higolna 
Arch an 
Strip Poksf 
PSON Chess 
Argadn Claulce. 
SdIpFllghI 
SpMlm Ifis 
Crusadv In Eunops 
Slant Sofvlqw 
ElS Strikn Eagle 
HeticAi Acs 
Tigers 4n ll*^ Snnw 
OarritifilBis 
Altern^Me Fleallly 
Gauntlet 
Trivial PunuM 
Summst GarTH* H 
Widef Grume 
PHilno IF 
Mean lA'CnH 
ZpritI 
WlrwM 

Tmca' Sanrtion 
Shangei 
ET^atHflr 
■CrtiM Check 
Phpiit Srtmiiatdf II 

Sargon III Chess 
Bwiuerdaish I 
BpeldenlaRh M 


PC 1S12 BOOKS 


Technical rfl*»ferica manval 
LeCDTriSlive BshIc 3 Guide 
UelrwOCi*>4 

Using Cite^ po the PT-1 !5 T? 
□05 Manual 
MSOOSbfcle 
MS DOS MendhMk 
MS DOS Uneris Gukte 

The Wnn^iar Manfftodk 
Gfftind Slaved with Wetdvtar 
Boeeieoiw AAwmbty l angProe 
Pnagrunmlng ih* ennfiywJ® 
OO^Bwk 
Cfof Beolnrw^ 

Intndducil^ Iha .Amslrad PC 
Wen) PrtiCeGairu Using Gam 
AfA'anoed MS-CK5S 
IntreiP TvtnPaaiiial 
Turt» Pascal Hanriboofc 
UWng Turtw Pascal 
LJienGukfelo MS DOS 


£22.00 
£10 00 
£22-00 
£ 22.00 
C19P0 
Eia.{D 
£26.00 
E190Q 
£19.00 
C19J00 
Eia.00 
£iaj00 
C22.00 
£10.0) 
£10.00 
tiO.OO 
£10.00 
£22.00 
£19.00 
£1900 
£».(I0 
£14.00 
£14.00 
£14-00 
£14.00 
Eia.QO 
£14.00 
£14jOO 
C14.00 
£25.00 
£25.00 
£14.00 
£18.00 
£25.00 
£19.00 
£45.00 
£46jOO 
£44.00 
£14.46 
£14 flfi 


E19.U 
C9.94 
£9 96 
£12.95 
E17.50 
£16.95 
£19.96 
£14,46 
£11.96 
£6.96 
£10.96 
£1995 
£2995 
£W.99 
£7.95 
{17.9$ 
£19.95 
£1*95 
£19.95 
£19.95 
£45.00 


COHfifl UNICATIONS SOFTWARE 1 

Dhiaiali 

£150.00 

Cmssialh 

£169.00 

ChH Chat 

£99.00 

flemCpm 

£00.9$ 

PAYROLL 1 

CurryHKt 

£90.00 


£99.06 

Mii> 

E43.SD 

GENERAL UTILITIES 1 

Sktoktoti 

£27jn 

OrriTiBtorm 

£39.00 

Gem Draw 

£04.00 

GemGrof^i 

EH.OO 

GriTiDia^ 

£32.00 

OMlgners Pefw:if 

£24.00 

MiAkStudle 

£24.00 


1’UP 

Touch'll Go 


£*9.00 

£22.00 


PCW SOFTWARE 


SPREADSHEETS 


1 ACCOUNTS PAOKAGES I 

Compaid Daybook 
CoDpad'AHtoynts 

Comf^ AwountB PliH 

Compdol Sates Ledga 

Compaoi PurChaBa Ledger 

Comf^ Nominal Led^r 
Compact Norn Led. ReportirG 
Cqmpaa Stock Cum raf 

CameoA AdDDurda 5iS 

Camsofi Aocounta SPN 

Comsufl AoouurHB 3ISPN 

Sago PUpglor 

Sage Popular Plus 

M«|] Irtegretod Acts 

C45JOO 
£170 JOO 
E199J00 
£59.99 
£59.99 
£59.99 
£4495 
£59.99 
£8490 
£5490 
El 1490 
E7S.tn 
£11450 
EiaSuOO 

DATABASES 

d Bsoell 

£9990 

CajTi?B&e 

£38:50 

Can^w 

£4790 

Sage Retrieve 

£5490 

Locofnall 

£3790 

pDckel PdBslar 

£3$.W 

Condor 1 

£9.95 

Pcicket Moictibox 

£2».»5 

Doiaflu^Uaillkiw 

£3990 

WORD PROCESSING 

PrgtsKl 

£74.00 

Prospril 

£9400 

Pocket Wordstar 

£3790 

Tasword 6000 

£19.50 

TaaevInteaGO 

£1256 

Tfti^ aooO 

£1460 

Loobepell 

£3796 

■I9fl»«wyd 

£$210 

Taflmrd and Taaprirrt 

£29.95 

1 PAYROLL i 

Cotm^ 

£59.9$ 

CarrWf 

£43.06 

Sage 

£5400 

GENERAL & UTILITIES 

DR Dmw 

£3990 

DR Pascal 

£3690 

DR C Basic 

£3990 

Pagsmakri 

£4590 

Fieri Strori Puhiteher 

E6490 

Write Hand Man 

£2590 

Snsrikey 

E3695 

aralnotorm 

£3995 

RotHla 

£2295 

1 PC HARDWARE i 

Printer Load Parallel 

E16.D0 

PrirKter 1 ead Sarral 

£16.00 

DiTBl Cover 

£9.36 

Disc Pack ot 26 

£20.00 

Arcade Joy ShcK 

£16.95 

PC Memory Upgrade 

£39.96 

FD3 Floppy Dnve 

£1*9.00 

3J5' Floppy Ortve 

£290.00 

Ugin Per 

£19.06 

m 10 lOMfa Hard Disc 

£430.00 

HD 20 20Mb Hard Disc 

£530.00 

3^5* 2QMh Hard Disc 

£400.00 

4[1Mb T^n f^treamv 

£575.00 

MQDEIVIS 

ArmtradV21/V23 

£99.00 

MIrade WS2000 

£12690 

WSIOOO V21/V22 Hayes 

£336.00 

WS3000 VS1/VZ2 fVa 

£5».W 

WS3000V21B1SA/22/V23 

£599.00 

Ouanro 

£765.00 

Arret rad AJVAA 

£169.66 

1 COMPUTERS i 


Suparcalc2 
Cracker II 
S(?atqhMd PIlh 
P ocket Gateattir 


PCW BOOKS 


Amstrad CPiM Plus 
Mastering Ihe Amelrad PCW 
Step by step guide to LooDscrtpt 
UflivBihe PCWS2« 

Program Your PCW 
Cl^Bble 
CP/M Plua H^book 
GSX Handbook 
Starltog Logo 
Advanfisd Amstrad Baalq 
Amsirad Mallatl Cerrpanlort 
Program Vow PCW 
Underetandlng dBase II 
c^aaePnog. Language 
dBase lUor the tnl user 
Soul of CP Al 
Using CPJW 
MaaiefinaCP/M 
Inlro to CP/M Plut 
PractFcol Logo 


LEISURE SOFTWARE 


ODiuesLM 4 Chess 
Tomahawk 
Trhial Pursuits 
Sensible 

Strike Faroe Harriar 
The Pawn 
SmoonOrearn 
Claeaic CeiadE^n 
3D Cyrus 31 ChaeG 
After Shodk 
Aonale of Rome 
Bslman 
Slack Star 

G. Gooch Test Crldiet 
Lord of the Rings 
MOneieie ot M^urdac 
SASRaid 


EDUCATIONAL 


Tauon 'nr Go 
Loooeo^ Tutorial 
>lan keyTypIng Course 
Handls on Cl^M Plus 
Hands on Sioeitoaic 
Handta on d Baaa II 
Teach Voumatl Loooeoiipi 


PCW HARDWARE 


hlngi 

ilei^ri 


PCWeSMwithStieedkMS 
PCW 3512 wHh 5 free dteoe 
CPC4«*Gieer) 

CPC *6* Colour 
CPCei?6Gieea 
CPC 6120 Colour 


C44a.0i> 

£555.00 

£179.95 

£279.95 

C279.96 

£369194 


Elecfric Studio Liglitioen 
Electric Studio Mouse 
Elactriu Studio Digiiw 
Graph PAD3 
J^ick Controflar 
FD 2 Second Disc Drive 
FDZ * Mamqfv Upgrade 
B256 Uainlry Upgrade 
RS^B^CenbionicE Uiharads 
V21A/23 Amslrad Modem 
2 PCW Printer Hbbons 
Lodu^ 3 Disc Storage 
10 Mb HonlOvk 


PRINTERS 


MP166 

CPA60 

MP200 

MP201 

Panasonic Pi060 
DMP2Da] 

DMP300Q 
DMP4000 
Siar NUO 

Juki sooa Daisy wneei 
Juki 6100 Daisy wheel 
EPSON LXee 
CITIZEN laoo 


•J^TiRAb l^lirWNi^iN 

:,r' AT;PRE-#tCREASE:RFil€( 




EAtjgs 

£41.95 

£49.50 

£34.95 


£1295 

£9.9S 

£4.9S 

£9.95 

£695 

£1650 

£1195 

£19.95 

£695 

£12.95 

£7.95 

C6.06 

£22.96 

£14.95 

£1695 

£1650 

£5.95 

£17.95 

£7.95 

£695 


£l7iM 

£irj(n- 

£1QJM 

£14J(H 

£14.00 

£234)0 

£14JIU 

E1E4H 

C14J0D 

£1695 

£23-95 

£14-95 

t1*.95 

£17.95 

£22.96 

£17.95 

£14.50 


£19.50 
£4.95 
£22.95 
£ie.9S 
£10 95 
£19.95 
£1*96 


ES.95 

G64JU 

£114.00 

£934» 

Eiaojdo 

£23-50 

E1494X> 

£17500 

C39.05 

£67.00 

£96.00 

£9.95 

£1100 

£*0900 





AU PRICES INCLUDE VAL POST & PACKING TO UK. 


Comtec S ystems 


5Sa Wellingborough Road Northampion NN1 4DN Tel: {0604) 24463 


ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT & POST & PACKAGING 

We are fully authorised Amstrad Repair Centre, with In-house’ 
repair faeiJities- 

Phone now for details of our service contracts and repair costs. 
County Courcii, Locai and Education Authorities. Orders Welcome. 
Corporate and Export Orders welcome. 

OVERSEAS ORDERS 

Please acid Ihe fq-llowjlng lo your order and make all payments In Sterling. 
Sqltware^Saalia^DIxs, Lead* £2.CKI 

Printws, Oi&c DrFVQE- £20.60 

Computers £40.00 


Fiaase send me Ihe following ilennsL 
Oty Product 


Pfite line VAT] 


□ 6256 

MCTVPEG 1512□ 6120 nasia TOTAL 

Name hfli/Mra/Mias _ 

Address_ _ 


Postcode 


Tel. No. 


I enclose {piaase llciK;) □ chequefp.o , or, please debit to my 
□ Access □ Visa Card EXPIRVDATE 

CH 


TTTT 


hna rnumT 

Coftitttc Sv ftmi 


1 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 


m HORTHAMPTON NN1 4BR. TvU {0004] 24463 


Page 30 


Amstrad Us«r May 1987 













































































Accelerate up to Paddock, sweep down the right¬ 
hander to Druids, hard on the anchors, tight out of 
the bend, accelerate, line up for the corner, don't 
lose it! Quite remarkable. 

Recreate the excitement of Brands Hatch in 
front room* Virgin offers you the chance to do this in 
two ways, either behind the screenr or over the 
carpet. 

Unfortunately building a targe layout at home is 
limited by finance and the size of the front room - 
besides Mum gets a bit peeved when you want to 
move the aspidistra to make space for a scale model 
of Dingle Dell. 

Virgin to the rescue ... do it with an Arnold, With 
the new game you can buitd your own circuit on^the 
screen, using all the bits of track you want, then race 
a friend. You don't have to worry about the cat 
walking on the track and it is far easier on the pocket. 


The Grand Prix 

One lucky reader of Amstrad User will drive off with 
a full Scalextric set including power supply, two cars 
and controllers. The winner and 25 qualifiers will 
take the chequered flag to walk away with a copy of 
Virgin's video version. 

Prepare to qualify 

Life in the fast lane requires sharp sight - you need 
to took out for blue lights. Our unfortunate bac¬ 
chanalian wheelbender has obviously failed this 
test, taut he has offered to blow into a bag for his 
friend in blue just to prove that he is sober* You may 
think that you are seeing double, but look carefully: 
Things are not quite what they seem. The two pic¬ 
tures below have some minor differences - spot 
them to win the prize. 


Page 31 



Rules 

1. Circle the differences on the illustration and enter 

the total number on the coupon. The sender of 
the first correct entry drawn on May 10th (sorry I 
Australia) will win the Scalextric set and a copy of I 
the Virgin game. I 

2. Twenty five runners-up drawn on May 10th will I 

win a copy of the Virgin game. I 

3* You may photocopy the form but only one entry I 
is allowed per reader. I 

4. The judges decision is final, no employees of I 

ACU may enter. I 

5. FISA cannot change the rules, to make sure a I 

French entry wins. La 


SCALEXTRIC ENTRY FORM j 

I spotted .,*.*. differences* | 

Name:. | 

Address:. V 

Send your entry to: | 

Scalextric Competition, Amstrad Computer User, | 
169 Kings Road, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4EF. I 




Amstrad User May 1987 
























































jj .>:->: coo^i :-:(:■ 

:-:ccw>:-:cyii 


o.:: ■ ;gj-:;^.Y;^iS30^??; 








AaVV:’ ;V 


REVIEW 




:-:::;:;:|:i)Ft%r^infi called Personal Accoudts, 
■^JJJiOl^rSvlbdex and Financial Diary;;-jn 
a Loan Caltulator is provided 
■Ivivil^w'^'^Jalendar is an intagral part- of 
:;>:jr5:|:ji^a/tjinry. -’J: 

v:J>;;;:i>:&'ia'available on tape and disc for 'the 
range and this review is aboutddie 
|:*:i$;:-:di^;.yersion.. It appears that the ipnly 
-t-ill-if^Eljfe^nce is that the disc version has 
>I-:':;:%l^[:]three main programs linked by a 
v^yijBrilft'mon menu. (A PCW version :is: also 
and is very similar itiijdper- 

can Planit do for you? Weil^ if 
jj^duyx^ect it to make instant order put 
:f:pf;5-'bf5yT^]:chaos, you will be in for a' disap- 
;:<;:j:;>p(Kr>iiiicnt, To get any worth'whiie 
:;:f:;$J:«^^;from any program you have to 
:-:-:-:^:^S5etvcLilous in the way in ^vhi^-you 
information, 

means that you have .to-Tget 
organised into a roiid^K-:to 
|:v:f:J[:^gjiliJly enter all the infbrmatk^ tKat 
j!$i-:-'^’^'*i?S>grams require. If yo*U. : are 
v:"'f:jprepated to do this^ Planit may auit 
:i:‘:-' you w^ell. 

I-:-:; The answer to 
p your problems? 

Planit is supplied on a single di$c,^ 
complete with a manual, in the #^>.ut 
^8 mandatory “library case'^ The mahUal; 
*!* covers both the CPC and PCW^yfer- 
S:’S' s^ons, but as they are so similaf^feis 
■X”; causes no problems or confusion^^tiis 
iiJo: well written and describes most fea- 
tures clearly, but is rather shorfcjjpn 
:;:::;r;f;;£acts;rogarding the storage capacrotb^of 
:;v:v::fil|s-:y|Aous programs, 

three main program^yj^re 
;!;:v:5]HCCe6^ by typing RUM “PLASrP”, 
iu a master meiiyNto 
which of the three maih ip^o- 
■SyJifgramV: you want to use, Th4^::l^n 
seems to be a biti^h^jan 
as it is loaded sepatS^ly 
^'LOAN" ■'M; ' 

■xi^X-'-H-Tfejidise ss protected and t;heL':jiro- 
:;;”:J:;:gcan]fe].take a long time to load^.l^tgely 
fiiUir'iSS-itsi’-ithe devious protection Kdtbods 

;:|:|:5;>:;:j!^&:[manual tells you that afiy'Vbms 
disabled before using . t^nTt 
is pro\nded tojdMi&hle 
required. If you forg^f t<>Vdo 
i>:::-!^^^)^^:r>|!lanlt does not warn ya^'-and 
to load, apparently nortetajly. 
;:5;:5J’0tiJy:‘a^ a later date do you encounrter 
problems, when it is too 

about it. ■■ 

impression of the pjhbg^dms 
a well lai(f'bttt\and 
menu. Instructions* 'are 
feMStatiily given in a panel in the lower 
v>i:*:!part:pf;the screen and menu selection is 
$::x :;fey ■ ibsefof; thfe'cnrspr.feys ;]^ 

■' ■ V-'-.'Sr Kji' ■Wwi'fcl a ‘pgtH . I'Ti 




orgamset 

Yuppies do it with a filofax, techies 
use a computer. If your finances are 
a mess then a computer system can ., 
help you to learn to be organised. 

But if you don't change you'll still be 
in trouble, as David Foster found out. 


while this is fine when there are only 
one or two options, it soon gets tedious 
when you may have to press the cursor 
10 or 11 times and then Return to 
select an option near the bottom of the 
menu, when it could have been done 
with a single keypress of a letter or 
number key. Ideal as a method for 
selecting with a mouse» but not from 
the keyboard, and Planit does not 
have provision to work with a mouse. 

Personal Accounts 

This is perhaps the main part of the 
Planit suite for most people, and is 
intended to provide the facility to 
analyse your expenditure, bank and 
credit card accounts, month by month. 

Before using the program for the first 
time you must specify details of the 
bank account and any credit cards, 
together with opening balances. This is 


where we come across one of the 
inbuilt compromises. There appears tb* 
be no provision to handle more thap 
one bank account or a building society 
account, though provision is made fot 
handling up to nine credit cards. 

Transactions can be analysed into ‘iA 
different categories of expenditure, bat 
there is no way to break down the valild 
of a single payment into more than one 
category, so don't pay your electricity 
bill and buy a computer with the same 
cheque] 

Individ u al statem ehts for bank and .j 
credit card accounts can be viewedjX 
printed or sent to a file on disc. There 
appears to be some slight problem with 
this part of the program, in that it is 
possible for credit card statements to 
not show all the entries, though they 
are shown elsewhere in the reports and 
are included in the summary toUils.x ■> - 

Transaction reports and cumulative 


The mairt 
nicnu which 
qpp^ns 

load Pianlt 


:->f:;f:;:;Sefc^tidii;:of:;bjiti]^¥:|t.hrpu^bi^ 

by 'of ftbe: icuirsbr ■. ; Jarid : 



















































































































































































































































REVIEW i 


liiA; Hatimftt 
^mh\ hifrftirt 


SUUiitnt if Acciunt 
Accouit Hufiliif B063E3 




%2/m 

02/ftK 

0E/Bfl 

mi 

Bs^a 

im 

iG/ia 

im 

dm 

zm 

zm 

mi 


TarttcuLvs 


mmi Telecm 
000062 i Ln Ltd 
Cuh lisHns«r 
006eB0 Shof 
StOrdNBS 
606004 Spirt Ship 
Credit 

Cish Dispenser 
000005 llK Imi 
600006 Kicro store 
800007 l&itir hils 
Credit Salary 


Press any key 


Debited 


SI.76 
1E.00 
15.00 
32.17 
IIS,71 
19.55 


25,60 

51.31 

is.n 

30.65 


Credit^ 


80.13 


Balance 


488.00 


345.01 

mM 

294.25 

279.25 
247 JS 
43.3? 
28.42 

116.55 

91.55 

40.24 

22.13 

61.52 

411.48 


’I'iifenday, of at least I think it does^'fetJjvSig 
calendar doesn’t seem to 
aJJcount of the rules for leap 
; according to the Gregorian 


fiioaii Calculator 


Vi*. 


some reason this seems to 
■|:>]^iicinny ideas about what ranges 
;;-f ' wes are acceptable^ and it will 
interest rates less than 1 per cent, 
loan period must be stated in 
which can be awkward if you 
work it out for intermediate 


di 


A charty 
laid-out 
stiitement of 
account 


of a year, 
they are. 


assuming you 


know ic'hiet-;?;-:-:?! 




Overall impres^nSAgSg^s 


expenditu re reports. are ava ilable at 
any time, so that you can *ee yoiir 
individual transactions for the month 
to date and also. expenditure by 
category since the start of the 
aceountiriig period, together with the. 
overall state of your finances. 

At the n^onth end yOu carry out a 
Month End updatej to transfer all 


to the next month. 


Card Index 


month by month and these- can be-: 
referred to and. for sofne strange 
reason, altered at a later date hy load¬ 
ing them in to the diary. 

You must select the date first and : 
then state the followed by the. 
appointment or notes. There is also a 
column to allow, you to. enter monetary : 
figures and 1 assume that the intention 
here is that you: can insert expenses at; 
a later date onde: the appointment: has 
passed. 


Visually Planlt is good, thoughfl^eV.'jy^;: 
more I used it* the more irritat*djtx;:j:j:j:j:| 
became with the need to make 
selections firom a number of menttfi'fej:;rj:j:’!;>^ 
.order to carry out the simplest taslt;:>:;:<c5‘;J5^ 
There are a number of inconsrs^-N:if:;X;§; 
cies in the use of keys. Sometimes 
may be used to back out to a high^^ivX^J; 
level menu, but on other oc€asidb^:]:Jj>:J;:J 
with a similar menu, it doesn't 
Sometimes you sefect by moving 
cursor, but other times you 
type in your selection, 

I ended up with the feeling 


The maximum size of any one entry ■ Planlt was one person's idea of wbbf 


The Card Index is a very simple data¬ 
base and is ideal for simple names and 
addresses, but the maximum length of 
any one field ie 22 characters and a 
maximum of seven fields. The default 


is-5.0 characters, plus the tiineyan.d-.any 
^^money" figurej but you can also add 


he wanted from personal accoun:yiig^:::o:5:|:::i 
and diary programs and that no 


‘notes'’ to incl ude. further combi ehts. else had been consulted as to wbethet-ii^:’:'"':':':':' 


.Each entiy may be marked With a; 
character, and reports may be cailldd tb: 
any -or a)1 marked entries, for 


field headings are names, addresses any range of d^^s,;.<^Yerpi|.by the 
and telephone numbers, but these can :activity file iThe-fmohi^y^'niay 
be changed as long a^ thfe wording no ’! disc tcrtalied:. Output caii be .to the 

screen or a printer;, but not toa disc file: 


more than eight characters long 
If your requirements fit within these 


Entries may be altered or: moved to. 
different dates without the need tn 


suited them, though I am sure _ . . 

Database Software must have ca]r^i^:;:’;J-.>J:J 
out considerable marketing re3esE>J5il:Y:jS:j>i 
before producing Planit, l-:*:-]- 

Will Planft suite your needs? If 
are simple and straightforward aiid¥^;>:ii::f 
are prepared to be meticulous 
entering everything, Planlt may 
be what you are looking for, but I catiTtf 


Data can be entered, amend^ and retype the complete entry; :; help but feel that at the end of the 


scanned, viewed one after another or 
you can jump to a specific record. 
Search facilities are provided, and 
searches may be made on the key ffirst;) 
field,, ot all fields This is fairly rudi- 


Iiicerporated within the diary is a 
calendar, and this can display any 
month from 1900 tp 1 now know 
that in 9999^ mv birthday :falls on a; 


could have done it a lot more quickty;;>;.v;f,;:; 
with pen, paper and a diary. ; . 


on multiple criteria: • • 

Records may be:Bort^ into ascending 
order and you can select on which field 
: the sort is to be cairiod out-. . 


.Af cirty time 
you can find- 
out the exaet 
Alat^ of your 


Financial Diary 

Th6 eqncept of the Financial I)iaiy: :i;& 
t:hat:ys>h^’ dates. and t^mes ^ : > 

api^lnt-iutHts,'; fpgetb pr. with deUi its^' ■' ■ ‘ ^ 
for any date in the future and tJhe^ :are 
ret^ in :tiie: actiyLty jftle for as long : 

as required. 







K'...It'Ji 

ninr 42.11 

Total Receipts 

568.13 

Ratr^ 

0.00 

Cbarges/Interest 

0,00 

Electric 

51.31 

Exprnditure 

715,07 

Gas 

38,90 


“ —- 

Hater 

90,IS 

Period Balance 

-14C.94 

leleFlioiie 

38.76 



Gneeries 

41.19 

Olenins Balances 


Clathing 

12.60 

— - 


HoBbifs 

22.95 

Credit Cards 

-12.31 

UeBicles 

32.17 

Bank Account 

349.81 

Garden 

0.00 


B HWB KB nw-a 

Social 

34.00 

Balance 

186.56 

Cifti 

41.5E 


"I'IZZIZI 

House 

0.00 



1 travel 

29.S8 

Current Bank Bal. 

3S4.04 

i Kiscl 

13.44 

Current Cask Bal. 

-2.11 

Ki&c2 

0.00 

^edit Card Bal. 

-ns. 37 

Kisc3 

8.32 



Kftc4 

0.00 



i HiscS 

19.00 

Balance as at ZuHfm 186.56 

: Hisef 

8.00 



: Hisc? 

0.00 


Press any key 

. HisoB 

9.ae 






1. 




m m * m m m m , 



















































































THE AMSTRAD 8256 

MORE THAN A 
WORDPROCESSOR 


7 


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A high speed RAM disc facility 
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The high resolution, green screen 
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That’s 40% more useable screen 
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Special function keys on the 
keyboard save you memorising 
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And because all the 
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But what makes the Amstrad even 
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The 8256 is also backed up by 
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Seek mb ye 
shall fin6.. 

Into adventures with Bill Brock 


Wanf a irery good place 


One question which turns up in the mailbag at 
regular intervals is: *‘How do I learn more about 
adventures?” This is usually accompanied by a brief 
explanation that the writer has thoroughly enjoyed 
his or her first game but has found it difficult to learn 
the tricks of the trade, and often ends with the plea: 

Which adventures would you suggest for beginners 
in this field?” 

The first game often stands out as a highlight, in 
that it will last in your memory for a lifetime^ Because 
it-was something new to you, you will have explored it 
with all the delight and wonder of an expectant child. 
The despair felt at each setback is completely over¬ 
come by the jubilation on each successful move. 

Providing that this first game was not too difficult 
and that you have progressed well into it, either by 
yourself or with a little help you are likely to be 
hooked for life. It was something special, with every 
few steps an adventure in itself 

Now you know some of the difficulties that are 
hidden for the unwary and have some idea of how 
much there is to learn. 

There is only one certain way of becoming more 
proficient at solving adventures and that is practice. 


This may narrow the field for the choice of the next 
few games. It would not be sensible or enjoyable to 
choose a particularly difficult adventure. 

What you need is one that CAN be solved with a 
reasonable degree of persistance, or one for which you 
can get some useful hints to its problems. 

A great deal can be learnt playing a game for which 
there is a good hint sheet. The best of these that 1 
have come across are those from Level Nine. All 
Infocom adventures have an optional “invisiclues” 
hint book, but these are exorbitant and provide full 
solutions. 

The hints are just that. They do not give an answer 
to a problem but point you in the right direction for 
YOU to solve it. This way you learn how to tackle an 
adventure and not just how to cheat your way to the 
end. 

There are several small circulation publications 
which provide regular hints, tips and solutions. They 
can be very useful if you are utterly stuck, but they 
usually consist of the barest essentials. 

There is a temptation to simply type in the direc¬ 
tions, and although you wdll complete the adventure, 
you will not learn a great deal in the process. There is 


Page 


Amstrad User May 1&S7 

























iL 


!!■?[ 




3ii 


featureI 



to start? 


QO substitute for your very own “brain think”. 

The following adventures are not just my recom¬ 
mendations, but also feature fairly heavily in your 
letters. They have all been out for some time and all 
represent good training grounds. You may very well 
find that some of the older ones are at reduced prices - 
especially at exhibitions - and represent even better 
value for money. 

So if you are starting out and don't know which 
path to take* have a look at: 

# The Jewels of Darkness - three classic Level Nine 
adventures distributed by Rainbird (01-240 8838). 

# Jewels of Babylon and Forest at Worlds End — 
Interceptor (07356 77421). 

# Mordons Quest - Melbourne House (01*943 3911), 
9 Mindshadow - Activision (01-431 llOl). 

9 Neverending Story - Ocean (061-832 6633), 

Hints for Jewels of Darkness are available from 
Rainbird and the others are covered in back issues of 
The Adventurers Handbook — H & D Services 
(061-370 5666), 

Another adventure specific publication that may 
help is Adventure Probe. More info from Sandra Shar¬ 
key, 78 Merton Road, Wigan WN3 6AT. 


Rapid access 

One thing about most adventure games that is double edged 
is their large si?.e, This means that you should get- good 
value for money - either lots of text, plenty of graphics, or a 
reasonable mixture of both. Unfortunately this is balanced 
by what often seems to be a very long loading time. 

Those of us with disc drives can occasionally buy disc 
versions but these are rare and cost a lot more than their 
more common cousins on casJ^ette. 


Strong shoes needed 

The success of Incentive's Graphic Adventure Creator has 
resulted in no end of adventure games seeing the light of 
day. The arguments about whether GAC or Quill is best for 
you will undoubtedly rage for ages. In the meantime adven¬ 
turers can only benefit by their use. 

Incentive Software haa launched the Medallion range of 
adventures for titles that are written using GAC. The firgt 
Apache Gold and the second^ Winter Wonderland, is 
certainly a good game for the beginner. The puzzleH are, on 
the whole, quite logical and there are plenty of locations to 
explore and map. 

It is also a perfect example of one particular type of adven¬ 
ture writer's ploy — the “go back and get it” stratagem. This 
means that having started at point A, you have to go to 
point B to get something you needed at A. You can only then 



get something at A which is needed at B to enable you to go 
back to A for something needed at C! 

Obviously the variations on this theme are limitless, and 
in Winter Wonderland a certain amount of patience and a 
good map are needed to sort out what to give to whom and 
when. 1 hope your shoes will stand up to all their walking 
around. 

You take the part of an anthropologist who has got wind 
of a hidden civilization buried deep in the Himalayas. In the 
rush to reach the friend who has discovered evidence to 
support this Und, you take a risky last leg flight in an old 
Cessna aircraft. Bad weather intervenes and you are swept 
into the mountains by a freak snowstorm. 

The plane crashes but you get out alive only to find 

Page 37 


Amstrad User May 1!#S7 

















































FEATURE 


yourself in the middle of a snoW'Swept plain. Eventually you 
stumble across the lost civilization, and although you are 
fascinated by the amazing similarities to the modern world 
outside, your main aim is to escape and report your find. 

The idea of the plot is OK, but its interpretation is a bit 
dubious - with a hotel receptionist telling you that you were 
expected, dry Martini on sale in the off license, credit cards, 
postmen and the odd hang glider all appearing within this 
long-lost Shangri-La, 

The best bet is to forget the plot altogether and just get 
stuck into solving the adventure. Look on it as a series of 
interlocking puzzles that you must solve, 

Inputs are pretty much limited to verb/noun format, but 
rnultiple commands separated by comma, AND or THEN 
are accepted. The responses to examining many objects is 
simply “Nothing worth reporting back about** hut do not be 
put off - examining things will pay off. 

For all this lack of textual atmosphere, Winter Won¬ 
derland is good fun and will keep many advertisers busy for 
a long time. There are a number of good graphics, and 
beginners will have plenty to explore and discover. 

Pictures are drawn to the screen quite quickly but they 
may be turned off to speed things up by the TEXT 
command. 

Regular use of the SAVE command is to he recommended, 
as many red herrings will bo caught and you will want to 
return to a known position. If you get stuck Incentive will 
send you a hint sheet on receipt of a stamped addressed 
envelope. 



south. ^ 

’t n 


th 

'JP «r-*A.An 
inowbuM At 


Just imagine 

Another game requiring a fair amount of travelling 
backwards and forwards to get various objects is Firebird's 
latest adventure in their £1.99 Silver range^ Imagination. 

This starts with you finding an old, unnamed disc in your 
local computer shop, Taking it home and running it on your 
computer, you find a menu appearing on the screen. Four 
options are displayed and keying in your choice transports 
you into that scenario. The sensible and logical selection of 
ONE will give you a hint to your mission. 

The first scene will take you to a spaceship, supposedly of 
gigantic proportions but with apparently only eight 
accessible locations. The second produces a frozen landscape 
with an imposing citadel, that you must find out how to 
enter. Again with a limited number of locations. 

The third takes you to a world containing malevolent 
sprites, grim mines and, if you have played many ladders 
and platforms games^ the distinct feeling that you have 
been here before. 

The final option is a deserted airport at Margate where 
Page 38 



there is an ancient tank, an aged bomber and a seventh dan 
black belt Japanese soldier who disputes your right of 
passage. 

If at any time you want to return to sanity, sitting in front 
of your computer, just type PINCH ARM and you are back 
in the opening sequence, all set to enter another one of the 
worlds. It will become obvious very quickly that to solve any 
of the puzzles you must zip backwards and forwards 
betw^een the four sections “ to get items which will be useful 
elsewhere. 

The concept of four totally different sections linked in this 
way is interesting. This game could represent good value for 
money for the beginner even though there are not many 
locations to explore. 

The puzzles are logical and reasonably obvious, hut the 
depth of interest is not likely to be maintained for the more 
experienced player. 



Amistrad U&er May 1987 



















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To; Opus Supplies Ltd, 

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Please rush me the following: 

{PRICES INCLUDE VAT AND CARRIAGE) 

_ Organiser Desk( s) at £59,95 eac h (inc. VAT) 


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My Access Q Barclay card □{please tick) no. Is: 


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ACU 5/87 


































































































































The continuing saga 

The first computer game featuring that mixed-up teenager 
Adrian Mole went down rather well. Those that follow his 
adventures and feel personally for all his problems should 
now be lining up to buy the sequel. The Growing Pains of 
Adrian Mole. 

This is not strictly an adventure game, but comes more 
into the category of Book ware. The screen lists excerpts 
from the daily life of your young friend and you have the 
onerous task of choosing one of three actions for him to take. 

This leads to the result of that choice, and the poor lad 
then has to sort out the next critical decision in his life with 
your help. 

There are a few random happenings, so the game will 
appear slightly different when you play again. The aim, 
apart from enjoying the story, is to increase your score and 
hence Adrian's popularity. 

The program is written by Level Nine and follows the 
book’s ideas and feelings as faithfully as possible. It conies in 
four parts - do not rewind the tape when you have loaded 
each section. 

Although there are graphics, they are not exactly plent¬ 
iful or very inspiring, and once or twice the text scrolled too 
fast to read. 

Each part takes from between five and twenty minutes to 
play . You can, of course, repeat a section to find the results 
of alternative answ'^ers. 

As each part takes about five minutes to load there may 
be a slight question about the overall value. For those w’^ho 
are already hooked on Adrian Mole it may be worth the 
money; for others 1 would suggest reading the bodk first. 



Scores 

Winter 

Wonderland 

Imaginatioii 

Adrian Male 

Plot 

eo 

65 

65 

Atmosphere 

60 

57 

60 

Addiction 

65 

55 

45 

Difficulty 

57 

45 

0 1 

Overall 

63 

57 

55 


ACU 



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Tried and tested It is now in use in Hospitals, Universities 
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Page 40 


Amstrad User May 1987 







































































T / -i f 




Software 
hotline 
fills 
the gap 

A REVOLUTIONARY sup¬ 
port package for business 
and communications soft¬ 
ware users which inciudes 
rnembership of MicroLink 
has been launched by sys¬ 
tems consuitancy and soft¬ 
ware design firm Interlex. 

It will provide previously 
unavailable support for the 
lower-priced - generally 
under £150 ^ software 
packages. 

In addition, MicroLink 
will provide Interlex users 
with the bonus of elec¬ 
tronic mail, telex and other 
comunications facilities 
and databases. 

Interiex managing direc¬ 
tor Mike Lane said;"As the 
trend toward low cost 
hardware and software 
has gathered momentum, 
the traditional dealer net¬ 
work has moved 
upmarket. 

"Consequently the bulk 
of new business micro 
users have been left lotaHy 
unsupported because the 
High Street and volume 
sellers supplying them are 
not geared up for the task. 

^dnterlex will fill the 
vacuum by supplying 
support at a price the new 
generation of users can 
afford. 

"Initially this will be 
provided through a tele¬ 
phone hotline, but we are 
pushing ahead with plans 
for an Interlex bulletin 
board on MicroLink to 
extend the service to 
comms users". 


Uicnlink on the rates 


BRITAIN'S 105’year-old 
Rating and Valuation 
Association has taken a 
giant stride into the 20th 
Century with the help of 
MicroLink, 

Previously, the profes- 
sional organisation for 
property experts in local 
government and private 
practice depended on 
phones and letters to 
communicate. It didn't 
even have telex. 

Now its 5,000 members 
town hall finance and 




Japan 
comes to 


housing administrators, 
and chartered surveyors 
and valuers - will benefit 
from not only telex, but - 
also electronic mall and 
Telemessages. 

The Association con¬ 
ducts a four year course 
leading to professional 
exams, provides an infor¬ 
mation service, publishes 
text books, and holds 
between 70 and 80 con¬ 
ferences a year. 

Assistant secretary 
Julian Price said'"Micro- 


MICROL1NK was the cata¬ 
lyst for language school 
proprietor Ouncan Baker s 
latest venture - teaching 
Japanese to British busi¬ 
ness people. 

^ The new addition to the 
curriculum at Lydbury 
English Centre in Shrop¬ 
shire developed from a 
sociable electronic mail 
exchange on MicroLink 


Link will give us the means 
to speed up our organis¬ 
ational communications, 
moving documents to and 
and fro between our 
Council members who are 
located all over the coun¬ 
try, contacting our mem¬ 
bers and exchanging infor¬ 
mation with our affiliates 
in the US, 

"It will also help us 
organise our cor^ferences, 
book hotels and speakers 
and make travel arrange¬ 
ments for delegates". 


with antiquarian bookseller 
Tony Swann. 

Swann revealed a loog 
cherished ambition to 
study Japanese and sug¬ 
gested that Baker organise 
a course. 

This has now been done, 
and after being advertised 
on MicroLink half the 
places were filled within a 
week. 


High peak, low tech in Tibet 


ACCORDING to crack 
mountaineer Chris Bon¬ 
ington, "ifs only a small 
trip compared to climbing 
Everest and Tm looking 
forward to cO'ming home 
and getting to grips with 
MicroLink". 

He was speaking a few 
days before leaving for 
Tibet, hoping to add the 
unconquered peak of 
Menlungste to his own 
coflection of HimaJayan 
"scalps". 

When he's not climbing 
mountains Bennington 
can often be found at a 
computer keyboard writ¬ 
ing one of his numerous 


books and articles or 
simply mastering the 
latest micro technology. 

A self-confessed com¬ 
puter buff, he has joined 
MicroLink because it will 
help him organise his 
expeditions, 

'The telex facility will be 
absolutely invaluable in 
this respect", he said. "At 
present I have to rely on 
the generosity of my 
accountant and use his 
office telex machine if I 
want to send and receive 
messages, but obviously 
this isn't always con¬ 
venient for efther of us. 

"Transmitting text to 


my publishers is a definite 
possibility. They are a 
rather old-fashioned firm, 
but who knows. I may be 
able to convert them to 
Email. As a newcomer to 
MicroLink I'm also looking 
forward to exploring its 
many sections just for the 
fun of it. 

"Unfortunately I won't 
be able to use MicroLink 
to keep in touch with 
home while I'm in Tibet. 
Where bm going is so 
remote that my messages 
will have to be carried by 
runner for three days 
before they reach the 
nearest road".. 


































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stationery or roll paper.) 

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* Dot ntslnx 9 x 9 (DraH) 18 > 23 (NLQ). 

Ofler includes: 

GLP II Printer Plus FREE Tractor Feed Unit with Paper. 

FREE Poll Feed Unit with Paper. 

FREE Printer Cable. 

FREE Spectaliy Designed' Metal Printer Stand. 

No extra's needed. just p lug in and use. 



VlBlin Lid. , 

unit 7, 

Trumpers M'ly, 

Nanwell. Londen W7 EQA 
Telephone: 01-1-43 99031 
relexi919 3Q4 VIGLCNG 
FasLOl 57J 5126 


HOW TO ORDER 

Simply lill in the coupon or write to us with your requirements enclosing a cheque/postal order or your credit card 

the total amount. Don't forget to adid die cost of delivery. ANow 7 to 10 days for delivery. _ 

Credit card holders may order by telephone on our sales hotline 01-S43 9903 (B lines). 

Orders from overseas should be exclusive of VAT (Please deduct 15% from the total cost). 



Dealer and Trade Enquiries 
■Welcome: 


e 

BOSTON 

MANOR 


OFFICIAL ORDERS 

Official O'Tders from education estabiishments. Government departments and Pic companies accepted 
Viglen has a spectal education department to process orders and queries from schools, coifeges. universities and 
Local authorities so please ask tor our education department when you call. Being one of the maior suppliers to 
the EduCatroo market, the experienced Vi glen I'eam will be able to understand and help you wr(h your requirements. 


Showroom Opening Times 
By appointment only 

Items marked special 

offer products. 



Fill in and post to Vigjen Ltd.. Unit 7. Trumpors Way Hanwoll. London W7 2()A. Tel. No. Cl-a*3 9903. Pteaw malse cheques and postal orders payable 
toVig^enLtd. 

STOCK CODE DESCRIPTION tjUANTiTV TOTAL PRICE 


Please 'hnd encip^sed a cheque/postal order 
I prefer So pay be VISA C ACCESS Z‘ 

*Tick ona please. 

Card No._[_Signature 

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Carriage 

Total 

Expiry date_ 








































































































COMPETlTlONj 




^amAta I -fiction J 


Imagine an Electronic Eastenders, a Digital Den, a pixellated Pauline or a computerised 
Colin. You can create all these characters with the help of a video recorder and a Rombo Vidi 
digitiser. 

The Vidi takes a television signal from either a video recorder or camera and turns the 
output into numbers. The computer then turns the numbers into a picture which can be 
edited by using something like Art Studio. Coupled with the Rombo Romboard the digitizer 
is an excellent package and you have a chance to win the set-up of a Vidi and Romboard. 
You will have to supply the video, the computer and the creative genius. 


Answer these three questions about television 
and you could win the Vidi. 

1: Who invented television? 

(a) John Logie Baird, (b) Alexander Fleming, 
(c) Graham BelL 

2: Which is the odd one out 
(a) VHS. (b) Betamax. (c) Polaroid. 

3; Where was the first television transmitter 
in Britain? 

(a) Crystal Place (b) Ben Nevis 
(c) Westminster 

Rules 

7. The sender of the first correct entry drawn on May 
IQth (sorry Australia) wHi win a Rombo Productions 
Vidi interface complete with Rombo romboard and 
software. 

2. You may photocopy the form but only one entry is 
allowed per reader. 

3. The judges decision is final no employees of ACU 
may enter. 



Send your entry to: Vidi Competition, 
Amstrad Computer User, 169 King's Road, 
Brentwood, Essex CM 14 4Bf. 


Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 43 

















































? Before you can build your robot, you’ll 

j have to have all the requisite bits. 

'■ These include not just the guts of the 

3 beagt^ but the tools to do the job with. 

: Although it is possible to knock 

1 together Amhug with j ust a pair of scis- 

I sors and a knitting needle heated over 

I the gas stove - how the author^s very 

\ first project was hung together - it’s 

j not recommended. What you^l defi- 

j nitely need in the way of tools includes ; 

i I • A soldering iron. 15-25 watts, with a 

I fine tip will do nicely. Available at 

I almost any DfY/hard war e/electronics 

1 shop, 

j •Wire cutters. The most appropriate 

I kind are called side snips or side 

cutters. Found in the more specialist 
(Tandy's, say) shops. 

• Scissors (cardboard chassis, for the 
cutting out of). 

A list of desirables, which wiU make 
your job a lot easier but can be left out 
if finance so dictates^ will include : 

• Desoidering pump. This can remove 
solder if a component needs to be 
replaced or moved. 

• Long nosed pliers. These make 
bending component leads much easier 
and more accurate. 

• A small bench vice. If youVe never 
done it before, you’ll soon find that 

. soldering needs at least one extra hand 

- two are just not enough] 

The budding roboteer will also need 
I to beg, borrow but not steal (only the 

! truly dedicated need buy) a teat meter, 

r This needs to measure up to 15 volts, 

I check resistance and measure direct 

j current of up to an amp or se¬ 

lf access to a secondary school or 
higher educational establishment is 
available, the physicSf'IT staff are usu¬ 
ally more than happy to help out seek¬ 
ers after truth with a dead droid, And 
they've got test meters. 

Got the lot? Good. Before you start 
sticking diode A into hole B, lets get a 
few of the basics of electronicing down 
pat. 

First, there’s the gentle art of 
soldering, or how to make the perfect 


There is more to computing than just 
pounding on the keyboard. Rupert 
Goodwins presents Ambug, a robot 
for you to build and run from the 
back of your CPC. 


}oint (calm down Vax). A joint, by the 
w'ay, is a soldered connection. 

In theory, it sounds quite simple. 
Heat two bits of metal up, pour molten 
solder over them, and allow to cool. But 
there's a few things to watch. 

Firsts all the metal surfaces must be 
clean and free of grease or corrosion. As 
you’ll be using new^ bits, that shouldn't 
be a problem, but if you can see grunge 
adhering to your wiry bits the trick is to 
pull the wire through a piece of folded 
sandpaper a couple of times. 

Second, there’s the technique. Some 
people push solder on to the end of their 
irons and juat dump it on the con¬ 
nection. 

Wrongo. The trick is to ^pply the iron 
first, allow the connection to get nice 
and warnij and then push the solder on. 

Another fatal no-no is to use too 
much solder. Just put enough on to 
cover the surfaces around the area of 
the joint. It should flow on easily, if it 
doesn’t then either the connection is too 
cold (let the iron stand for a few min¬ 
utes), or one of the surfaces is dirty. 

Practice on a few stray bits of wire 
until you get the feel of glueing with 
molten metal, When it comes to 
soldering stranded wires into place, it 
helps if they’re tinned. 

Tinning isn’t an Irish calorie- 
controlled diet, it’s the method of 
coating connections individually with 
solder before bringing them together. 
To tin a bit of wire, strip off about Smm 
of ingulatioUj twist the strands 
together, and apply to a soldering iron. 

Push a little solder on. You should 


aim for an end result where the wires 
are no thicker than before the solder 
was applied, but are stuck together by 
a fine veneer of liquid engineering. 

If you do this to both ends of the 
ribbon cable (after separating the 
strands, of course), you 11 find it a lot 
easier to solder them to the PCB when 
the time comes. You’ll notice that the 
PCB comes ready-tinned. No expense 
has been spared ., . 

Now the fun begins. Take the PCB 
and put in all the wire links. These are 
best done by cutting a piece of wire 
about .1 cm longer than the length 
needed on the board, and bending the 
ends through &0 degrees so that the 
link just fits into the board. 

Then solder both ends, and trim off 
the spare bits as close to the board as 
possible. Then solder in the IC sockets 
and the ribbon cable, 

Next, solder in the capacitors and the 
resistors - see the ID chart supplied 
with the kit to tell which is which. 

The resistors and smalt capacitors 
can be soldered in either way round, 
but the big capacitor needs to be 
plugged in correctly. 

Fhit the diodes, transistors and the 
ICs in last. The transistors need a 1 ittle 
bit of extra care during soldering -- 
don’t hold the iron on the joint for 
longer than five seconds, and allow 
everything to cool for ten seconds 
between soldering each leg. 

Make sure that those trannies are 
aligned correctly, and that the right 
types are in the right place. Ditto for 
the diodes. The ICa should be soldered 


Page 44 


Amstrad. User May 1987 

























PROJECT I 




‘.’.f ’ v*'], -V’A 


V rL-'f?' 


BPw®ip' 

A :ViiS''-.v.r,"‘;';rf 




i--^ ■ 
f- ’j^.’‘V^.'-',, 

E 






l-'S 






A fully huilt Ambttj^ fufyove} und shtnen 
wearing i#s new clothes (rights 


•rr. 


in last. The two long flat ones are the 
same as each other, but make sure that 
the notch in one end matches the 
diagram. 

" ^ider on the joystick connector and 
the printer port connector. Connect the 
two sensor lines to pins 1 and 2 of the 
joystick, plug^ and the common earth 
wire to pin 8. 

Similarly, connect, the lines Ml'M4 
on' the PCB to pins 2-5 of the printer 
port, and L1-L2 to pins 6 and 7, with 
ibe earth wine going to 22. Yoult find 
pictures of the connectors in the back of 
yotir Amstrad user manual. 

Then solder in the 7805 IC - the one 
with a black body, three legs and a 
metal plate^ Screw on the heatsink to 
this plate, making sure it doesn^t touch 
anything else^ Then solder in the 
battery connector. 

Finally for now, solder on the swit¬ 
ches - don’t» bother to glue them on to 
the baseboard for now, and just plug-in 
the joystick connector. Turn your 
Amstrad on. 

Trv the test program: 

10 PTiIKT J{)Y(0);^ ^GOTO 

You. should get a screlhful of Os^ which 
change to Is, 26 and 3s as t^e sensor 
switches are pressed. 

If you only get one or two numbers 
check your wiring for short circuits,!, 
and make sure that you've got the 
numbering on the joystick plug right. 

Amstrad Us«r May 1987 


Getting it wrong can't^hurt anything, 
and it's a good check to make sure that 
you've understood the. elementary'^ 
aspeetl of construction. 

Next, switch everything off and con¬ 


nect the motors and the light emitting 
diodes. The LEDs have to be soldered in 
the right way round, as they don't work 
(ever again) if you get it WTong. 

Don't bother booking up the gear- 


Motors never turn 

IC3, battery polarity, 

Motor 1 turns in one direction only 

TRl, TR2, TR5. TR6 and ICl. 

Motor 2 turns in one direction only 

TR3, TR4, TR7, TR8 and IC2. 

Motor turns sluggishly and transis- 

Resistor connected to transistor, ICl 

tor overheats 

or 2, diodes connected to motor. 

D9 stays on continually 

TR9, RIL 

D9 never tights 

R9, R11,TR9 

DlO stays on continually 

TRIO, R12 

DIO never lights 

RIO, R12, TRIO. 

Motors judder or change direction 

C3, C4, C3. 

randomly 

Always check connections to the computer and 

battery before suspecting electron 

ic foul play! 


Table I; Possible problems OJid ^oeci to diagnose them 


Page 45 















































PROJECT 1 

■ ■ ■ r-i « .. ■ ■ ■ 

5 ■ ■ --J. 

; . . :• * . . : d. c* c • 

i ...... ■ .. -■ 

¥ ' ' ' . .'J " ' L ' C" o"' ' • ' 

boxes yet. Plug in the printer port con¬ 
nector and the battery box. Switch on 
again. 

If one or other of the motors starts 
try switching on again. If the condition 

4EFFF,S and OUT #EFFF,0. To make 
the motors both do something at the 
same time add the numbers together, 
so OUT #EFFF,5 should get both 
turning. 

Debugging hardware is much like 
debugging software, as long as you 
have an idea of what should happen! 

Try to use an alkaline battery or 
batteries, or even better, recbargables. 


persists switch off and check the wiring 
around ICs 1 and 2* the area around 
the transistors and the arrangement of 
the diodes. Make sure you've remem¬ 
bered all the wire links. 

If that proves nothing, then there's a 
faint chance that you damaged one of 
the transistors when soldering them in. 

Assuming that the motors stay satis- 
factorarily silent, then try OUT 
&EFFF,1 from Basic. One of the 
motors should start. OUT #EFFF,2 
should reverse it, and OUT #EFFF,0 
should stop it again. 

The other motor can be likewise 
tested by OUT #EFFF,4, OUT 


Similarly, OUT #EFFF,16, OUT 
#EFFF,32 and OUT #EFFF,48 should 
turn the lights on. If the motors start 
up when this happens you've got a 
crossed line; either there's a short m 
the plug or PCB end of the ribbon cable, 
a short on the PCB, or a miswiring. 
Turn off, unplug and check everything 
carefully. 

If one or the other of the motors or 
lights won't work have a look at Table 
I, which should help you diagnose your 
disaster, 

A little logical thinking, together 
with a read of the '*How it works” bit^ 
should help you sort out your problems- 


Ambug takes quite a lot of juice when 
belting along on its mission to save the 
world, and not an inconsiderable 
amount just sitting there. Unplug the 
batteries whenever you’re not using 
Ambug. 

It all works? Great! Now you can 
mount the hardware. If you're using 
the kit of bits full instructions come 
with it. If you’re busking it (brave 
fellowAass), then any old bit of wood 
should serve as a baseboard as long as 
it’s not too flexible. 

The official way of putting the gear^ 
boxes and bumpers on is with nuts and 
bolts. Personal experience has shown 



Cl, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 
C8 

TRl, 2, 3, 4 
TR5, 6, 7, 8 


25vw DIO = LED 

lOOO^F, 6vw Rl, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8 = ISOQ 
BFX88 A11,E12= IK 

BFYx^l R9t RIO = 47011 


Circuit diagram for DTY fans 
Page 46 



Ainstrad User May 1987 










































































































































































































You've made the right decision 


Star makes it easy to choose the right printer when it 
comes to those difficult dedsEors, From the smaiJ business 
or enthusiast user through to the highly demanding 
corporate buyeo there's a printer in our range to suit every 
need. 

Take the NHO for example, Vou need to choose a 
printer that's compatible with the computer you're using 
today and the one you might upgrade to later. With the 
NL-10's modular Interface that's no problem, just select the 
interface you need when you buy the printer. If you need to 
charge later it oniy takes a moment to swap the cartridges 
over. 

You'll want to choose a printer that's easy to operate. 
On the N series printers Star have all but done away with 
those fiddly little DIP switches. Almost every control you 
need for daily use is on a single touch panel. Select print 
quality, character size^ margins and a host more options 
without ever havingto lift the lid. 

You want to choose a printer that looks after all your 
paper requirements; traclor, single sheet or multiple 
copies. The NHO has tractor feed as standard for 
continuous printing and an automatic single sheet feed to 
make letterheads really easy. There's even the option of a 
low-cost cut'Sheet feeder. 

Vour ultimate choice is print quality Print quality isn't 
often expected of dot matrix printers but the NL-10 provides 
it as standard. Whether you're printing at 120cps in draft 
mode or30cps in Near Letter Quality every character is crisp 
and clear. And the range of character options is unbeatable. 



Star is making it easier to choose the right printer 
when it comes to service and backup. Our pedigree is 
inherited from many years in the manufacture of precision 
machine parts and a long history of producing computer 
printers. This means you can 
rely on Star's wealth of 
experience in advanced 
design and manufacturing. 

Countless users 
have made the 
right decision - 
why not join them ? 


SUf Micron oU.K, Ud. 
Craven House, 

40 Uitbridge Road 
Eailng, London WS2BS. 
Tetephoine;m^S40m 



PRINTERS FOR BUSINESS 


A division of Slar Micron its Co., Ltd., |apan. 


^ I would like to he sure t'lm maki ng the right decision. Please send me 

details on ftie Star range of printers. 

I Na}ne=___ —- - 

I Company^._____ 

I Aridre&s^^---- 

I 

■ Postcode ____TeJephone=- 

I Or justall Belinda onOT W 1\J L AU5 











































PROJECT 


that sviperglue does the job just as well, 
if correctly applied. 

Them that know reckon that the 
hardware's only as good as the soft¬ 
ware. With Ambug, the hardware’s 
pretty good, but the software depends 
on exactly what you want to do with 
the poor thing. 

However, owners of buggys invari¬ 
ably seem to take a delight in making 
their beasts bash against the nearest 
solid object and turn away in a daze. 
What the paychologists call a con¬ 
ditioned response. 

Others take great pleasure in per¬ 
suading their hardware to engage the 
cat in hot pursuit. Shrinks everywhere 
know this as out-and-out nastiness. So 
here are two programs to give the 
proud possessors of Ambugs a chance to 
sample the joys of dubious droidery. 



Programs to try 


Program I is a very basic Basic maze- 
learning program. Even that's being a 
bit grand; all it does is trundle Ambug 
forward until it hits something bigger 
than it is. It turns until it gets an all 
clear ahead, and then eontinues. 

The clever bit cornea when its master 
deigns to press the s key on the Arnold. 
With heartwarming faith and Mensa- 
like intelligence, Ambug will return to 
it's starting point, without hitting 
anything At least, that's the theory. 

The second program is a bit simpler. 
All it does is make Ambug obey the 
keyboard - Q for left, W for right, P for 
for^'ard and L for back. If you’re feeling 
particularly bright you might like to 
combine the two, so that you can teach 
Ambug a path with the old keyboard. 

Depending on exactly how your 
Ambug is wired, you might need to 
swap the values for Goforward and 
Goback in line 50 of both programs. 
Similarly, Goleft and Goright, Left and 
Right might need a little juxtaposition. 


j To: Magenta Electronics 
135 Hunter Street 
B iir ton -on^Trent 
Staffs 
DE14 2ST 


n 


I 


! 


I would like to order...Ambug 

kits at £22 each. 1 enclose a cheque 

for.or debit my Access/ 

Bardaycard 


I 


Expiry date. 


Name.... 
Address. 


Please allow 28 days for delivery 


I_ 


_I 


Id m AHB!U3 driver program 
20 REM hy Rupert GcodNifis 
REH 1987 

40 m 

50 4HBLIG-6EFFF:nS=hright = t:Left=2:both= 
3;9origlit=9:g(?L«ft"i:g.oforwsrd=10:9ob 
a:k=5-:hiLt=0 
60 11-16:12=32 
70 m FNti=TlNE-datur 
80 i&toT^gofofKafd:liglits=Ll 
90 EVERIf 25 GQ5UB 510 
100 m at200]^b£{200] 

110 daluii=TlMfitplofing=1 
120 REM Nov store up to 200 changes in d 
ireciion 

130 UHIlt nS<200 

K0 pres J=JCilf (05 ■ IF p!’ess<>0 THEN GOTO 1 
70 

150 IF INKErSoV THEN 0 DTO U0 
160 GOTO 280 

170 REH Wort Out ney direction for Amby 
180 REM If bntli switches ere pressed 
190 ftEH it's a heed-on trash. Reverse 
200 REM for d second, and tlien turn 90 d 
egrees 

210 IF press’both THEH H0T0R=pback:&0SM 
B 400:delay=1;6OSyB 470:HOTOR=gQrigh 
t:3OSU0 400:deLay-1 :G0SUe 470:MOTO(l= 
gpforHdrdlGOSUB 400:GCTO 260 
220 REH IF one switch is pressed, just t 
ijrn 

230 IF pre 5 S=left THEN MOTOR=goright:tOS 
UB 400:delay=1;GO&Ue 470:M()TOIf=gofor 
HtirdifiOSUB 400:3070 260 
240 REH if the other switch is pressed, 
turni t'other way 

250 IF presS=right THEN HDTOR-goleft:S0S 
UB 400:deiayM:GO3UB 470:HO7Ofl=gofnr 


410 

420 

430 

440 


450 


470 

480 

490 


m 

510 


520 


530 

540 

550 

560 


ward :G05UB 
WENH 

REH Thdt's ill the mo^es recorded 
REH Now do the changes in direction, 
b^schwards. 

dituii=TlHE:explDrin9=0 
FOR fX=1 TQ nS 

bIffX) = 15 4ND IhKfX) XOfl IS) 

NEXT fS 

m fS=n!ST0 1 STEP -1 
tnnt6r=bl(fI):eoSUB 400 
rie)(tnove=TlHE<'(effX)’’a:(f K-1)) 

IF TlHE<ne!ttmnve THEN GOTO 360 

NEKT fl 

REN And stool 

HOTOfl=HALT:fiOSUB 400:ST{)P 

REH Send a eoimand to Anbug and reme 

ikber it 

LET coinnand=fiotor OR Lights 
OUT aibug^command 

IF espUring^l THEN a(nX) = FNti :b!!(n5! 

)=nsotor:nX=n'5!+t 

El 

RETURN 

REN wait for DEUT seconds 
LET oldtiie=TIME 

IF tTIH£-(300*delay))<oLdtime THEN G 

OTO 490 

RETURN 

REN Flash Lights, but don't record i 
t as an event 

IF Lights=Ll THEN LightsM2 ELSE Lig 
hts=l1 

0 ldeitp=e:tp lor i ng: exp Lori ng=0 
GDSUB 400 
enplloririg=oLdejcp 
RETliRN 


Program I 


Incidently, Amstrad Basic is rather 
good for this sort of control program. 
You might notice the use of EVERY... 
to flash the eyes at a fixed rate - with a 
little more work the rate could change 
according to the direction Ambug is 
moving in. 

Making Ambug learn a maze so it 
can find the shortest route would take a 
lot more programming. If enough 
Ambuggers (ahem) pester the Ed an 
article on how to do it might be 
forthcoming. Go on - iVs what he’s 
there for. 


I The easy option 


Dedicated hardware hackers will sneer 
at this bit, so stop reading and go and 
plug in your soldering iron. The rest of 
you will want the soft option. 

A kit is available which contains all 
the parts for a buggy for £21 plus £1 
post and packing. If you wish to order 
from overseas please call for details. 

The Ambug kit includes all the parts 
you’ll need such as the PCS, motors, 
baseboard and wheels. You may older 
the kit directly from Magenta Electron¬ 
ics on 0283 65435 or by filling in the 
form alongside. 


10 REH AHIU6 DRIVER PROGRAM II 
20 REH by Rupert Goodwins 
30 REH 1987 

40 REN 

50 AHeUG=8EFFF:goright=9igoLeft=6:goforu 
ard'=10:goback-5:ha lt=0 
60 Lfr16:L2=32 
70 iiotor=halt:Ugtts=L1 
80 EVERT 25 G05UB 200 
90 IF l0UER$ElNKErS)=Y THEN LET ■otor= 
goLeft:S0SUB 140 . 

100 IF LQUERJ(iHi(ET$)=V THEN LET motor 
=gori9ht:G0SUB 140 

110 IF LOWERi(lNI(ETE)=y THEN LET motor 
=9oforudr{j:G03llB U0 
120 IF LOWEI!$(lNKErSI=''L- THEN LET Botor 
=goback;GOSTJ& 140 

130 IF INKETSs"" THEN LET notot-haLt:G05 
UB 140 

140 REH Send a command to Ambug end r^\i\t 
nber it 
150 DI 

160 LET co?iiind=iiQtor OR Lights 
170 6UT ambug/Connand 
180 El 
190 RETURN 

200 REH Flash lights 

210 IF liglits=l1 THEN iights^L2 ELSE Lig 
hts-LI 

220 GOSUB 140 
230 RETURN 


Program II 


Paifc 48 


Amatrad User May 1987 




















































FOR AS LITRE AS £159 YOU 
CAN BE THE HOME SECRETARY. 

















Ther^*s more to home computers than fun and games. 

just add a printer {and the necessary software) and your 
computer becomes a word processor And you become a very 
efrident secretary 

If the printer you add is the Amstrad DMP 2000 your 
efficiency will even extend to saving quite a lot of money 

Because the DMP 2000 costs just £15? (ind. VAT). 

Yet it will print draft quality text at an impressive 
105 characters per second. And Near Letter Quality at 
26 characters per second. 

As you would expect it is compatible with all Amstrad 
home computers. But it is also compatible with Epson and 
any other make that has the same Centronics Parallel Interface. 






■/Lit:'- ■ 


SH- 


If youVe already graduated to a PC therc*s the Amstrad 
DMP 3000 printer. 

Ifs compatible with all the Amstrad PC 1512^s as well as 
Epson and all other IBM compatible PCs. It costs just £169 
(plus VAT). 

Both printers have easy front loading and both will lake 
ordinary A4 paper. One of them is bound to be light for your 
particular borne office. 








Please send me further information on the DMP 2000 □ and DMP 3000 □ ' ^ 

Name__—---- 

Company---= ^Telephone--- 

Address____—-—- 

AVAIL AEL E AT: Cf^ Dl KON5 ■ SBL L ASKYS JOHW IE Wl 5 • M0S ■ NOflB AJN ■ NORTH AM BE R ■ O EElCE INTERN ATI ON AL Pfli P ■ R VM ANS 
SANDHURST ■ V1STEC ■ WILOINCS ■ AND GOOD INDEPENDENT COMPUTER STORES 


AMSTRAD 

PRINTERS 

Amsiratl pic., PO Box 462, Brentwood. 

Ess^x CM14 4EF. Telqjhonc: (0277) 220222, 





























































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t^D OF CEREAL RACKrr THDfNESS 


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FOtOUNES^ 


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CMT WfS HSLCib IH K«M^ -K 
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/£p57 


NOW AVAILABLE FOR 
AMSTRAD CPC 
Also available for Spectrum 48/128 and 
Commodore 64/128 


/£9W 



This split-fevel racing game incorporates all the excitement of the race 
track, in fact many race tracks, as it features an icon-cfriven track j 
designer that allows you to construct your own tracks as well as select / 
scaled Formula 1 championship circuits. / 

One or two people can play and have their own 3D view. Some / 
ingenious programming has made the feel of controlling the cars very / 
realistic, and you can even bump and push your opponent’s car if you / 
want to play dirty! / 


SCflif OfHOmSY^^OBBiES LTO. E) Ai.L GOPmiffH rs flfS luEisuiB Genius « is a whoiljf word syhsidiary ol Viipm Gdi^H LW 


Please send me a copy of SCAifXTRIC* AMSTRAD CPC cass £9,95 □ disc £14.95 n 
SPECTRUM 48/128 cass £9,95 □ COMMODORE 64/128 cass £9,95 □ 

Name___ — 

Address_ _ _ 


Please make cheques and postal order payable to Virgin Games Ltd., and post to 

Virgin Games, 2/4 Vernon Yard, Portobello Road, London W11ZDX. Please do not post 
cash. 



Genius 





























































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final 


TA&ll 


JowUfril4ed’ Irip« 


t«>b«wf4vlvU 
the 'nbi»'J«r'ailp 


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ih'qiir I hriT i ri 41 lir t ■■ I «*h'!ll lhlkt< HI Ihll V4'r ' ■ A I*. I If I I 

•44<i H-h il.*i ^ I l i.hVI*' 1 41 A’. ■.I■''^ I bl ■■’I'lC I Ih'. I hi 1)1 

,1 iPpi" i'Ui'P I r-h lii^ li I'^.1 i il ilUiii ibf 

■ •41 r 1 anri'il 4:4b-i1 •, f'"P K|i,i= . 

fl'. ri-4Ji I ihll ^ I 'P ll I ‘i i^bl IHI U I I hi J IKI ir ■j I I , 

I Lip^ll 1 b^ Kq'i.i'J^'lLfafai^l ili^Llhl [■'•ilBb 

iliiir Ti^ir 1 ^ I «i ip ^ 


V4..pr-- -■ I i .-1^1 . 
■ P4' r (^Pi>| IFr 41 11 ^ 


J I I hi ■P4I4I \ N|4" 


WORD PROCESSOR 
Compose a letter^ set the 
print-out options using 
embedded commands or 
menus, use the mail merge 
faeility to produce personalised 
circulars — and more! 




DATABASE 

Build up a versatile card index^ 
use the flexible print out 
routine, do powerful multi-field 
sorting, perform all arithmetic 
functions, link with the word 
processor — and more! 


LABEL PRINTER 
Design the layout of a label 
with the easy-to-use editor, 
select label size and sheet 
format, read In database 
files, print out in any 
quantity — and more! 


Printer 


Mini Office II offers the most comprehensive, integrated 
suite of programs ever written for the Amstrad - making it 
the most useful productivity tool yet devised. 

A team of leading software authors were brought 
together to devote a total of 26 man years of programming 
to the development of Mini Office II. What they have 
produced is a package that sets new standards in home and 
business software. 

The sample screenshots above illustrate just a few of the 
very wide range of features, many of which are usually 
restricted to software costing hundreds of pounds. Most are 
accessed by using cursor keys to move up and down a list of 
options and pressing Enter to select. 

Is it that easy to use? Several leading reviewers have 


already sung its praises on this very point. 

Yet possibly the best advertisement for Mini Office 11 Is 
that it comes from the same stable that produced the 
original Mini Office package back in 1984. 

That was so successful it was shortlisted in two major 
categories of the British Microcomputing Awards — the 
Oscars of the industry - and sold in excess of 100,000 units! 

It was up to Mini Office II to take over where the first 
Mini Office left off, with 32 extra features, two additional 
modules, a program to convert existing Mini Office fdes to 
Mini Office II format, and a 60 page, very easy to follow 
manual. 

This is the package thousands of Amstrad owners have 
been waiting for - and at a price everyone can qfford! 





































Heoiie jend me Mini QfifJcie il 
*Ajdd £2 for Europe 

’Add £5 for OvETsefiS 


DATABASE SOFTWARE 


Casebte £14,95' 
3" disc £19.95*. 


SPREiADSlIEin 
Prcpcirc budgets or tables, 
total eoKiimns or rows with 
easc^ copy I'ormijlac absolutely 
or relatively, view in either 40 
or HO column modes, reealeulate 
automatically — and more! 


J (J. [ Al. H.;i: 


GRAPHICS 
Enter data directly or toad data 
from the spreadsheet produce 
pie charts, display bar 
m charts side by side or 

1 1 stacked, overlay line 

and morel 


graphs 


M COMMS MODULE 

W Using a modem 

. ‘:i; you can access services 
j such as MicroLitik and 

book rail or theatre tickets, 
send electronjc mail, telex and 
lelemessages in a Hash — and morel 


e matched! 



1 

PP^hhwmht 

I^IH» 

iTSfTtM 

tti bdh 'H 



Amstrad CPC 4G4, 664, 6128 


Cassette ********t**n**********^s.* £ 14^95 
3 ** disc, ... £ 19,95 


Database Soflwarep 
FREEPOST, 

Europa Hmise, 

6S Chester Riiad, 
Hazel Grove, 
Stockport SK7 5NY. 



TefspJnone Orders, 

06M29 7931 

Orders by FVestef. 

Key m then 

MfcroLmt/Te^ecorTi Gold | 

72:MAG0<I1 


Don'c Jorget to give j,^our name, address and credit card irumber 


ENQUIRES ONLY 061 Cl71 9Am.Spi!Tn 


Paynn-ent: please indicate method ( v^} 

□ AcceSs/Masteifcharge/EuKJWi-d /' Bflrrlaycafd/Vlsa 
Card No. _i_J_i i_i_LJ_i I_I_ i— i — i 


EiqpiiV date 

/ 


j Cheque.''’R0 made payable ro Database Pibbliicallans Ltd. 
Name,^___Signed -- 


Address 


Pfease offou; 28 doys pyr deJit^iiri 


Tel: 


ACU5 






































































The ultimate choice in computer supplies 
for Amstrad Computers 


THE “NEAT-N-TIDY” SOLUTION FOR THE PCW 8256/8512 



£ 39.95 



THE TOTAL 
PACKAGE ONLY 

£74.95 INC. 


45 





£44.95 




“Tidyis a PCW stand f h?it puts your at eye level. It provides space 

for your keyboard and has a shelf for storing of disks etc. It can be locked “Neat” is a printer stand and acoustic cavercombtned. No more annoyance 

to ensuie security and privacy. Since the keyboard can be safely stared to codeaguca at work or at borne. 

away when not in use extra desk space is then made available. Slotted in Designed to handle both continuous and sheet fed paper with slots at rear 

the top to connect the keyboard cabJe to the PCW.. and top. 

Available separately or as a pair for an unbeatable price, another new value for money product from SBS, the ultimate choice. 


TOP QUALITY NO EXTRAS TO PAY 


BEST PRICES 


3" CF2 DISKS 


DISK STORAGE 


£25.50 for 10 
£69.50 for 30 



5 , PC1512/DISKS 


PLAIN LABEL mci. 

IN PLASTIC CASE £10,17 for 10 

MAXELL ind, 

BRANDED. £13,60 for 1ft 



DIAL A DISK 
10 X 3" DISKS 
PROTECTED AND 
DISPLAYED 

£5,95 incl. 


3 " DISC BOX 
hinged LID ► 

Cap 25 Discs 
(uncased) 15 cased 

£9.50 incl. 



^‘THCNGr”< 

:OPY HOLDER 

r 



1 





FITS TO TOP OF 



PCW WITH 


WW' _ 

VELCRO STRIP 



PROVIDED. 


_ 

£6*99i„. 

1 PLEASE SPECIFY LEFT/RIGHT REQA | 


PERSPEX VDU FILTERS FOR PCW & PC 1512 


^ REDUCES EYESTRAIN 
^REDUCES CLARE 

> REDUCES HEADACHES 

► IMPROVES contrast 


ONLY 

£14,95 incl 


FJTS TO VDt WITH VELCRO PADS PROVIDED 
PLEASE SPECIFY IF MONO/COLOUfi VDU (PC 1512 ONLY) 



DUST COVERS ..PCW 82j6/S5l2.. FuU «t tlO 35 

PCI5I2 ..FuU ul £9,50 

RIBBONS...PCW 6256i'85l2/DMr 2t)0(V3(KM> ..... £4.95 

PCW (Caibon) . £5,50 

DMP 4000 .... £8.0.3 

LISTING PAPER ......U"' x 9 " 60 jsitl nU^d/pIjim .. £14.24.^2000 

A4 i>0({\liiiuouE 70 plain .,,, £9.64/1000 
A4 continuom 90 ffim plain ..... £12.89/1000 

(Micnj-pcrfocited on all 4 

LABELS ....3 1 acnwi the web ,,, £31 ..^6/8000 

Call for sisej livted, 


n p 


ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT — PLUS — FREE NATIONWIDE DELIVERY 


SRS Cftiti t <! r ¥ f#1 tJNIT 3 CLARKS INDUSTRIAL ESTATE NEWTOWN HOAD 
aoa Ciomputer supplies Ltd. i^ovE • SUSSEX ■ BN3 7SA • TEL(0273)726331 telex 878226 

FOR IMMEDIATE DESPATCH S OUR 24 HOUR HOT LINE (0273) 726331 


COMPANIES 
WHY NOT 
ASK FOR OUR FREE 
b4 PAGE CATALOGUE 


PLEASE SEND ME 

DESCRIPTION 

QTY. 

V^LUE 

I ENCLOSE A CHEQUE PAYABLE TO 
SBS Computer Supplies Ltd- 

NAME 





ACU5 







ADDRESS 





TOTAL ORDER VALUE 



TEL 














































































































..fii:--:-: ■ '■ ■ 

. m' 





; it;: : 









■ ^ CN u' " 

: - i‘55'":'&o; 


PROGRAMMING 



A game for CPC computers 
by Kevin Freeman 


DARE you enter the chamber of an 
earthquake-damaged chemical 
processing unit? Hazardous acidic 
gases have been released^ and you 
must use the plumber craft to 
reconnect the pipelines, which will 
be displayed for a time in their 
correct positions. 

Avoid the roaming disrupter 
droid — any contact and it will be 
transported to the start position. 
This must be completed before the 
gases eat their way through the 
shell of the plumber craft. 

You have the option of using joy¬ 
stick or keyboard. 

This program creates its own 
machine code and checks for 
typing mistakes, but cannot check 
for some errors. If you get the 
message “Type mismatch in 2020” 
you have made a«mistake in the 
DATA. By typing GOTO 2?70 when 
you get the error you should get a 
rough Idea of where the mistake ts. 

Have fun! 


pLuitier 


m y-1 TO 12 
READ ni 
fOR x-l TO 20 

SPRITE, 

grid( &tart( 

PtEH )i 
NEKT y 

FOR t = f TO 1 ,9: SOUND 

2,mht,%9:HEU 

'tine Left box 

PLOT 370;3,2:DRA>I 439,0 

PLOT 370,10 :DRAW 639,11} 

GOSUB 1520 
'vsfisble^ 

i(=2t y=11 :o=11 :a=x :b=y 

dx^dxfscrl :dy=dy UcrhSOSUB 1130: da 

di:db-dy 


gfyptor 


2T0 FOR TD ^0 STEP^-I^J 

I 9:WEJfT 

III keys 

m up-0;di.^2Mf = T:H=a:h^=47 

' ^^0 GOSL/fl 6S0 
250 scr=1:sc?0 

\lii IF str.l FHfll RESTORE 1?!) 

m scr=3 TtFEK RESTORE 2 m 

f "ESTOSE 2TS8 

?3B il "ESrORE 2510 

338 IF scf=« then restore 2448 

shfly screen 

350 i=0-:q=0 


^■3'T2 :Gi 5T|3 S50 
'^-^■ 60 TQ Sjfl ^ 
■S-I0:sop^ 

1240 






























































Save up to £16 
on both these 
eagerly-awaited 
additions to the 
LocoScript family! 


The latest (and best!) 
mail-merging program ... 


The latest (and best!) 
spell-checking program ... 


LocoMail J LocoSpell 


What you get with LocaMaif: 

^ Sends out any number of 
personalised fetters. 

^ Use your recipient's name twice in 
every sentence if you wish! 

^ Insert data into your letters 
completely automatically, 

^ Take data from LocoScript or from 
any Ascii database system. 

^ Allows you to specify categories 
of people to receive your mail, 

^ Facilitates automatic production 
and printing of invoices. 


What you get with LocoSpetf: 

^ Huge 78,000 word dictionary by 
Longman 

^ Build your own dictionary of 
names, common words, etc. 

^ Use it as an electronic dictionary 
to took up difficult words as you 
type, 

^ Corrects ail your misspelt words. 

it Check as much or as little spelling 
as you want. 

^ No disc changes needed to correct 
spelling. 



Read what 




£32.35saGh 

.90 for both 


£7 
£16 


each 


for 

both 


the experts have to say! 


wouldn't hesitate to recommend 
LocoMail to anyone who has the 
need to produce circulars, club 
newsletters, invoices, invitations, 
contracts and the like ... I can't 
wait to see what LocoSpell has to 
offer:? 

- Cliff Lawson, APC. 



4 LocoSpell does the job admirably. 
Like, LocoMail, its easy integration 
with LocoScript makes it very easy 
to use. If you use your Joyce at atl 
regularly then it MUST be an 
essential purchase f 

- Rupert Goodwins, ACU. 


To order please use the form on Page 95 


























































PROGRAMMING 




a s!, 

fsB IF 2<639''THtN 568 ELSE 6DS11® 

1668 fOR*t=2»3a T5 1«B8 step -10:S«U«» 

UifllQEME 5,'2:fEN tiPRlNl Came tiuer, 
680 L 0 C 8 TE 5:17:PE8 18:PRINrP <» Pl»y 

E.SSiPdNE X Ui Conlrds- 


saa IF griciiK+pK.y^^tyl^l^ then 
m b=y ftNt e=sT^ 


Im swl30*““ 

{ ?50 disruptof 

?80 nT=«UfI;IF iik 3 THE* R£ru»N ELSE at 

1 970 gr=gn"d(d^fau,dy+tlr>) 

SM S0UH6 l,30(,5,5;S5tJNC 4,800,3,3 

J dy.*; 

|l 000 SPRITE,Cua- 1 )* 2 ,(rf 6 .i)* 2 ,U 

® S '^*-n' 2 -(dT-I )*8 14 

n &?0 dt=dx;dlj*dy 

ifi? 

1040 fifruRN 

1l350 CfTsrupt^hr c(j(^tacf 

FQ-R irt=100 TO 1^0:S&UWJ)' ^ ut 2 jt /1 

0:BOR*ER tE/S-l0:NE*T 

Ime SPRITE,ta.T).2,(b-U.2,o 

0RB SPRITE,(«- 1 ). 8 ,(,.l)*j 
1100 SORRER 0 ' 

1T10 RfTl/RN 

1130 r=RNlJ*7+t 

??»; S'™ 1170,1130,) 190, 


l&ro DATA irrrrtdddclddcrirrrnn 
ia80 DATA hsirrrrrrrtihhiirrnhh 
ig-90 DATA hIhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhss 
1,900 DATA l^hhhiiiiiiiiiHihhss 
1910 ' s c retn 2 

1920 DATA iinh^ss&tihiniviI.S&S 
19Jfl DATA irarrhskirrrrti-irhhhtih 
1940 DATA Ivrtfriii 1 ri'Nrorirrrh 

1950 DATA hhrarhhrrrt^rrrrirrn 

I960 DATA s-irarhrtjddddifirhtodgi 
1970 DATA sir^rdrarhftraihharri 
19S0 DATA hiredddti’hrrairran'i 
1990 DATA irrrrhrrrrrraihbciii 
2000 DATA irrrhhrn’rfrabdcrrri 


1150 -dus-lidn^flrRETLfffN 

1 160 b(j =-1 :drt =-1 iflEtUff 
1170 dui1:dn’=-1:ffETUfi)J 
1130 du=f:[jfl=1 :return 
1190 diJ=0:dn--? :fiE7(jRAI 
1200 du-1 :df)=B:fifryRiv 
1210 du=-l;dn=1ififTyRN 



CJ 

[' 







^ 1 



1220 dd-0:di1=1:flETURN 
1230 'drop pipe 
1240 ci=grid(x+pj(,y+py) 

1250 IF d<17 THEN RETlflN 
1260 gridi!i+pK,y + py)=p 
1270 hoLd^0 

12S0 IF itart(jt+pJt./y^'pylop THEN 1360 

1290 BORDEfI 6:INK 0,6 

1100 FOR yt=l TO 50:NEXT 

B10 .SOUND 1,1000,5,14 

1320 SORDtft 0;IIFK 0,0 

1350 q=q4l;SOS0B 1500 

1340 sc=5C+1:6DSUB 1520 

1350 'dispLay/trsse pipe 

1560 SPRITE, (x^'pl“13*^,{y^'Ry'lT*2,p 

1570 SPRITE,5a/22,p 

1580 RETURN 

1390 pick up pip# 

1400 p=g^id^)('^pJt,y+py) 

1410 IF p>5 TttEN HETURN 
1420 gridix+px,y^‘py) = 17 
1450 i)oLd=t 

1440 IF startI)(+^px.,y+pyK>p THEN 1560 
1450 SOUND 1,5000,5,14 
1460 q=q-1:&0SU& 1500 
1470 sc=sc-l:SOSUB 1520 
U80 GOTO 1560 'juitp to era?e/display pi 
Pf 

1490 'no. connected 

1500 LOCATE 9,25:PEN 7:PRINT m 

1510 RETURN 

1520 LOCATE 1,25:PtN 3:PRINT sc; 

1530 RETURN 

1540 y=w45:v=0 

1550 HOVE y,2:DSA^ w,^,12 

1560 RETURN 

1570 ' move pipeline 

1500 FOR y-1 TO 12 

1 590 FOR *,=1 TO 20 

1600 If start txyy)c.6 THEN GOSUU 1650 


10 Ntn ^ 

20 NEXT y 
30 GOSUa 1500 
40 RETURN 
P=gridfj(yyJ 
9^.id(if,yJ-t7 
'0 1-1*1 
'I SPRITE, 

0 a'fiND*19M:b-fiA!D*1lf1 
0 If S'-id(a,bJol7 TFfEN T690 
: I^sta^tf5ybJ = p then 1690 
0 9naCs,b}=p 

) SOUND 8,508,8,6 

I L1H8IE 6,85;R£* 10;PRur s. 

I RETURN 

diti for screens 
'screen f 

MTJ JhifiThsssisssshhiAh 

JJT4 nbddfrrrrhfiJfrrrrri 
PATA ^^^a^lha^.-'^r^lh6^^■^bgr^ 
)«c1iharArr6rrrrrarrf 
JJTA irrrharArrrrbdddcrri 
DATA 1 rrrraf hhrrrarrj’orri 


data irrfrarhhhrraJihrrrri 
DATA irrrrtddddddchrrrrih 
DATA hsi rrrrrrrtihhhrrri hh 
data hlhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhss 

DATA l\hhhiiiiiiiiiiiifih^5 
'scretn 2 

DATA iinhhsistihiiiiiiss&s 

DATA irarrhskirrrTti-irhhhlnh 
data Ivrtfriiiiri'Nrorirrrh 
DATA hhrarhhrrrNrrrrirrn 
DATA jirarhrpddddfirhtodgi 
DATA sirarJirarhftraihharri 
DATA hi redddt-rhrrai rrari i 


























































































_ USUALLY SAME DAV 
W DESf'AT1>imA4lOn«HS 

■ S£tJOCNfaiJF5 

/ UNITSS'9 

FfPiTON INDUSTRIAL ESTATE. 
DEWSBURY ROAD, f vnion.. 

STOKf ON TRENT TEL:«7S2273S1S 
FAX: ( 07 B 2 I ZB^SID 


7* MB CBEDlT 
C.4AC 




THE UUIMATE BACKUP 
THE 464/664/6128 

~ ■ Now ycu tar itQp the 

actiiHi oJ ynur ^ame anil 
msk a coittplete 
backup to 
TAPE or DISK. 


POST FREE 


ONLY 


THERE'S HO WED ID IW MORE! 


Cp) It does not matter how 
your program was loaded - 
at normal or turbo speed - 
from tape or disk. 

Through bus conneotor 
for other add-ons. 

□ Programs are saved 
under normal DOS - unlike 
some products whioh need 
Specially formatted disks. 


VERy 
SIMPLE 
TO USE!! 


10D% SUCCESS?. 

tfliRi WB CDuld imH lind rtMAIAry 

PHidi-jKt QDfn* lliaE wii cfHj4d bacfcyp^ 


our ntxit 


□ Simply 
load your 
game as 

normati then press the button 
to 'freeze' the action. 

The whole program is then 
saved to tape or disk. 

□ Program will reload and run 
from the point where it was 
frozen. 

When the program save is 
complete that's it — no need to 
"repair" the program an reload 
like our competitors' products. 


A FULL DIGI1AL SOUND 
SAMPLING SYSTEM 

FOR 464/664 
or B12B 

ONLY 


Cumfirts 

patald^G edudeg Iiee 
micnplM. 




The sampler allows you 
to record any sound into 
memory digitally and then 
replay it at variable pitch, 
forwards, backwards., 
ascending, descending, with 
echo, reverb, etc..^ etc. 


Professional full S bit A 
to D and D to A conversion. 


MIC input and line 
output. 


□ 


On screen frequency 
lotting. 


Live effects menu. 
Through port. 


□ 

□ Real time sequencer to 
produce musical pieces from 
a single sound. 

□ Load and save sound 
features. 


□ 


Available rtow — please 
state tape or disk schwa re. 


NOW Roeoncs + mm. control 


Easy 


FOR m/m 
DP G12B 


ONLY 

POST FREE 


£ 29.99 


□ Connect your computer 
to models, lights, sensors, 
etc., etc. 

□ 4 onboard relays. 

O @ fully buffeied inputs, 

□ Using very simple basic 
commands, outputs can be 
controlled by inputs to form 
"artificial intelligence'! 

Complete with ribbon 
connector and cable to allow 
coupling to models etc. 

□ Through bus for 
expansion/disk interface etc. 

□ No more to buy. 

□ Available now! 


Advantage 

The Independent Computer User Group 


Advantage (U17) 33 Maly ns Close, Chinnor. Oxfordshire 0X9 4EW, 
Tei: 0844 5SQ75 



WSA 


AUTHORISED POSIG DEALER 



ORDEFI1ISK3 - Priw inciydH VAT end UK po$tag«. Cpsh wtth Ort»*f pleas#, ohaq^ja, rrmney 
order or banker* *afL VISA wxJ ACCESS aoc^ptad by post or a s»amp«). 

BddfBGE«d omMbpa tor o«uf la/tofiicaialogue. 


PLEASE state VVMlCH COMPUTEFIVOU ARE USING 


PC OWNERS-SEND JUST £2 FOR OUR NEW CATALOGUE ■ ON - A - DISC 
WMICtt INCLUDES SAMPLE GAMES AND UTILITIES. 


PCW & CPC SOFTWARE 

EACH DISCCBL95 jAAeNejl Hemlw«£&9S} 
Ovtreeuedcltl pArdis. 

The si* disc* bfliow contein Public Oonam 
sdiwara pkjs Advantaga u*er nolas- 
COMPLEAT imimes - s#*«aiva fil# 
cop^ BTHsa, nida. raname and piim. Sector 
Edhor, ZSC AsBBFTibler/CIsatMmbler, ZfiQ 
Deb 4 j^er, Fla Find and Reotivery 

(CP^M 2.2), Sprtad Otrtcttry. File Scannar, 
SptiTiw, Siring Findar, Bad S*c»r 
ElimifUior^Tvptvwtlier ErraAaiDf. _ 

GAMES COIW>EHCHUH - Chn*. 

Colo**#J Cav^ Adventure, Othallo, 
Mastarrrind, Aiwari, Lile, Gotf, Polish Pong, 
Maz». GioFhytbma. Word Search Puzzle 
Maher. Catond* Generator, Nought* A 

CroBs ee. Banner Primafs- __ 

^PUCATIQNB - lrwwYti^/Dalaba?a, 
Library UWltla*, Word Couni, AlphabWk 
Sort, Simple Speling Cheoker, Easy u-adil 
Starter Dioiicirtary, DiBcCatiiogger, Fia 
SQueez^rraquBaze (eavm up to 40^ 

[itotp ace). Password PrteecaQn._ _ 

COI^NICATKINS - UK MODEM 7, 
Kwmrt, MEX. BINARY - HEX C« .verier 
and dher utAtjes^_ 

AMUSEMENTS A DIVERSIONS - 2S 
game# and a uillitee wrfflsn ki unprcqected 
MALLARD BASK, Induding Siar Trek. 
Marcbanl. Hanginan, Nim. BaEebaH. 
American FooibaB, Cekviator, Home 
Budget end Label Prinfler 
^ALL C COMPILER - produces 
maiiiinfrcode programs and indude® 25(i: 
of documentation 


PC SOFTWARE 

EACH DISC;».»(AdvinLigB U«Tili«t7.fl») 
OvBrwe pluH idd £1 per dlee 

We haYoan«Kt$TiS4velibr^yDfQver 
GOO PC-SIG public (tomain and uwr- 
suppcrtab discs. Here are some of 
the Favouiriies 

FCWRlTt - lAUf-tunctlan Ward Pmcessor SOL lilfi 
size. IW pegeon-decrmBl. 

PC^LE 1 - FlAy user elafinabia DatebeBe 32.7S7 
rKsrrisL 1D0pageon-^K ir«ru«L 
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Available tor CP/M+ And MSOOS. Second 
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Ov*ir*«ee add £3 PC MSDOS 
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NEVADA a UTAH FORTRAN 
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INDEPENDENT USER GROUP 
ChooBe efther Groups (CPC 4 PCW) or 
Grwip-16 (PCI 512) for monlTily newsletter 
u^BT suppi^ and software disoourn*. 
Anmiel imm/beritiip: £10.95 (UK) 
£13.95 (Europe) 

£16.95 (Rest cH World) 


Page 60 


Amstrad User May 1987 



























































































mOGRRMMmG 








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PROGRAMMERS!!! READ ON 




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IIM 

^ THE 1 St FULL IMPLEMENTATION 

of the K&R standard on the Amstrad. Features include: optimising 
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£79.95 (Incl. VAT & P&P) 



MAXAMU 

1HE BEST ASSEMBLER 

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^ The system programming language that Is easy to learn and easy 
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routines*l/0 libraries guide*CP/M and AMSDOS version In 
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BACKGAMMON 


PINBALL WIZARD 


BRIDGE PLAYERS^ 

A chall«n 9 lfig afld realistic program rof all bridge orithuaiaste^^^ 
VERSATILE bidding routines giv« you a reaUy wfvtMy opporonl 
POWERFUL bidding andpiay to appenJ m Ihs mwt expefionced player. 

OOMPH EHENSlVE on-scraBn dbplaya, keep yoj informed at ail timea. 

EXCLUSIVE TUTORIAL OPTION tor be^nners and improvers, with 
twenty s«t hands and expert guidance to bidding and play. 

The ollimata reBnementln home ounpLUerversiora ol the 
sophislicated card classic. 

N£W FEATURES INCLUDE: bidding In ACOL system with STAYMAN and 
BLACKWOOD conventions *pQst nvortem facility ^rebid/raplay 'bias deal *daim rest of 
tricks 'restart play of cards * input coniraci 'tutdrial section. 


3-D CLOCKCHESS 

Created in- consultation with International Grandmaster 
arMl British Chess Champion Jon Speelmari. 


FAST with unique methrod of setting levels by time. 'Play againei the 
dock' and 'matching time’ modes. 

MHETnATINQ at toumament levels - hooks al least seven moves deep. 
FA.1EMDLV - every possible feature. Ideal tutor for beginner and expert alike. 

...VERSUS COLOSSUS CHESS: ^'3-D dock C/fess ^fays a sifortg^r 
game" — putting your ArvisTRAD to work sept, laae 

"EjfceJ'fsftf QhBss program. .Jar too srood for me ... wtft fesf even 
stronger players** — AMSTRAD ACTION 


Casselto. .. £5.95 Disc... E9.95 

Dice ciassic with fast moving graphics-easy 
to learn but hard to beatf 


Cassette... £5.95 Disc -.. £9.95 
Colourful, fast-adion graphics and sound give 
this game ihe feel of a teal arcade pinball. 
Realistic launch^ flippers, bumpers, high-score, 
bonus scores end freeball features. 


Cassotte... £5.95 
The original Amstrad chess program - with 
seven levels of play to challenge you. 


MAIL OFtOER by cheque, poBtal qriHsr Qr 
ACCESSJVISA number |wHh e^.piry dale). 
TelaphqrK lor inBtam Credi|-c^rd qrd^rs. 
Sertd SAE for catalogue. 


DELIVERY i£ by SoonaSI post. P[>6[ Ira* in UK: 
Europe add ^ per program. AH Oliver plecoe add 
£t rw gurlaca mail cr lor Airmail add £2 fur lin&t 
program andftt lor each eddltlorvai. 


[cpi soft ware 


STONEFIELD, 

THE Him BUnFORD, 


OXFORDSHIRE 0X8 4HX TeL 099382 3463 Hx: 57784 MCCL G 


Cassetle.. .£12.95 Oise. . . £15.95 

Unique program brings you all Ihe playing 
power of the original Amstrad Superchesa, 
plus SPEECH and 3-D graphics. Beginners to 
expert levels with classic helpful feaiures: 

* Analyse mode W problem solving * large 
Opening library w help menu * change colours 

* reoorrimended move 


DRAUGHTS/ 

CHECKERS 


Cas&etre.. .£5.95 Disc. . . £9.95 

Complele with strategic hirits, Kings and 
several challenging levels of play. 


Cassette...£12.95 Disc.. . £15.95 

Continuing the tradition of quality, this 
exceptionally strong bodge player wilt give 
even highly skilled players an engrossing game. 
FEATURES include bidding in ACOL System 
wish STAY MAN and BLACKWOOD conventions 
*-post mortem faeility - rebid/ replay * bias 
deal * claim rest of tricks * restart play of 
cards * input handfcontract 


“All you ever wanted to know about GRAPHICS, THE 
UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING on the PCW 
8512 ...but were afraid to ask.’’ 

50 ^ routinos and PCW 82SfS/8512 cumpatibility—tha ultimate PCW Taalldl. 
* Crealg DEVASTING GRAPHICS OUTPUT including fust 5mc»>th epritoB. ^ Niaka direct 
use of RAM disc, A Create User Defined graphics, a Modify character set and send 
enlarged characters and UDG's to printer a Experiment with sound routines, a Dlrectty 
access video RAM system, a Discover hitherto unpublished hardware information»»Pori 
specifications and Edge connector diagram, a Access CP/M functions with ease. 

ROUTINES INCLUDE: Urvg draw^Efase -Pixel plol^Ecsse - Flood tlH - Create gprlte Plgt sprite - Move -S-prilE! -Ch-^ni}^ 
Ch^iracler sal - Jsar dellrtad graphics Turrv screen ofl^ - invert ^ Sound ‘Se-nd UDG's arvd Dqubl« h&ightfdoubra 

width Ctiar4cters to printer - W4il Idr Frartid flyback - Delay - Randomiser - Meve Dursor anywhere - Read joyslick - Diac 
motor of^oTi ■ Full software resei - SaMefLoed Wernory from disc or RAM diac ’ Find svslem Ciocn ■ Savei'Losd screen 
Iram disc....AND MUCH MORE! 

'' Versatile.. uf(fe fetjge of vsefol funttions -. .flood rrtsnasl. ■ excellent oa ckage " 
— eooo PLUS JANUARY 1957 


BRIDGE 
PLAYER 3 


3-D VOICE 
CHESS 


SUPERCHESS 






































































FEATURE 


1 


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CCOJ^ 


From the people who brought you 
Frank Bruno's Boxing, Space 





Harrier, Ikari Warriors and 
Bombjack, Jerry Muir brings you . . . 
The interview. 


If you draw up a league table of soft¬ 
ware houses, there’s no questioii who 
the big boys are. Ocean and US Gold sit 
on high, churning out a mixture of 
resounding hits and the odd damp 
squib 

But just under these giants lies a 
wealth of smaller companies w^ho, far 
from being bidden by their shadows^ 
are bright lights in their own right. 
They may be producing fewer games 
every year, but they've developed a 
reputation for consistent quality and 
house style. 

In many ways it"s more interesting to 
follow^ their fortunes than those of the 
apparently unshakable duo, because, 
as the proverb has it, mighty oaks from 
little acorns grow. 

In fact a lot of software hou-ses which 
are now household names began as 
very small acorns in the earliest days of 
home micros, Mikro-Gen copied arcade 
classics such as Centipede and 
Invaders; Hewson produced flight 
simulators; and the origins of Elite lie 
in a back-bedroom operation in the 
Midlands. 

Second division? 

Nowadays Elite is one of the most 
important of the '^second division” com¬ 
panies, with a line of successful coin-op 
conversions to its name. But its rise has 
been gradual, hampered by occasional 
setbacks, and constantly enriched by a 
process of learning from its successes 
and failures, as company boss Steve 
Wilcox told me on my recent visit to the 
company's Walsall headquarters. 

‘'Elite has been trading for two and a 
half years now. We started in Septem¬ 
ber, 1984, as a completely self-financed 
softTvare house. Before that I’d been 
involved as a retailer though, selling 
software and hardware since 'S3, It was 
just an opportunity that I spotted”. 

This route into the software industry 
contrasts with the origins of many of 
the smaller companies, which were 
founded by amateur hackers, vrorking 

Pace 64 


late into the night to produce their first, 
mail-order efforts. But though Steve 
trained as a chemist, the mysteries of 
coding weren't entirely alien to him. 

‘‘My younger brother, Richard, put 
out a game called Blue Thunder, 

“It was a straightforvrard back 
bedroom job. He wrote it while I was 
running the shop and got involved in 
putting the thing on the market. 

“At that stage it vras all very primi¬ 
tive, of course. Distributors were only 
just starting tct operate. But it did well, 
and I decided that w^e should take on 
some more people to write some more 
pixiducts”. 

The first title to appear under the 
Elite banner was Kokotoni Wilf “I 
don't know if you remember that?'’ 
Sieve asks me. Indeed I do. This Jet Set 
Willy style game was a particular 
i'avourite of mine at the time. 

There was nothing particularly revo¬ 
lutionary about the game play, apart 
from the fact that Wilf flew^ instead of 



running and jumping, but the humor¬ 
ous scenery, set throughout the history 
of the earth, was well drawn and 
amusing. 

The game appeared on the Spectrum, 
but never made it to Arnold. I asked 
Steve why. “It was written for the 
Amstrad”, he said, “but it wasn’t par¬ 
ticularly good, so wc decided not to 
I'elease it.” 

This concern about the quality of 
Elite programs is something that 
cropped up throughout our conver¬ 
sation, It's obviously very important to 
Steve to get things right. This has 
caused the delay in the release of the 
Amstrad Paperboy - the first version 
w^as scrapped when it failed to reach 
the mark. 

So Elite started as what Steve calls 
the “typical thousand pounds finance 
job”. Kokotoni Wilf sold fairly w^ell. 
“Not a bad first effort”, Steve says 
modestly. The next move was an am¬ 
bitious one though. Elite was among 
the first companies to gel involved in 
licensing TV shows. 

Mixed reactions 

“It was Ghostbusters that inspired 
us’b Steve recalls. “Three or four 
months after the huge success of that 
game we recognised that there wrere 
other tie-ins that could be done and we 
wfent out and bought three at that 
stage - Fall Guy, Dukes of Hazard and 
the most successful of the three, 
Airwolf’, 

I can't help thinking he makes it 
sound like nipping down the market to 
buy five pounds of Kind Edwards. 

Reactions to the first two tie-ins were 
rather mixed, though looking back at 
them, at least they resemble their 
originals, which is more than can be 
said for some recent tie-ins. 

Ainvoif wasn’t without its controv¬ 
ersial aspects either. A wall at the very 
start., which had to be shot aw^ay, made 
it difficult to get going. In retrospect, 
Steve reckons that this w^as a mistake, 

Amstrad User May 198T 






































FEATURE I 


but th^t if you persevered you faced a 
very reasonable game. 

After these three programs Steve 
decided not to follow the path any fur¬ 
ther. "'The image of these games got 
tainted fairly quickly, and it seemed to 
us that some of the added value of the 
license disappeared from the product. 
But that's not to say that we won’t do 
them again”. 

Good sports 

So Elite began to look around for 
something else, and for the next three 
programs they bought sporting names. 
First up vsras an official Grand National 
game which was well received but 
which failed to spark the public imagin¬ 
ation. 

Its sequel:^ a rally driving game 
linked to Dunlop tyres, re-used some of 
the programming ideas+ but turned out 
to have a flat as far as critics and pun¬ 
ters were concerned. 

“There was a stage between the 
purely character merchandised product 
and getting involved w^ith the coin-ops 
w'bere,^ I freely confess, we got a little 
bit lost. We agonised for some time over 
Dukes of Hazard as to whether to 
actually release it, 

‘'But I think that we learnt a lot at 
that stage about the necessity to get 
product right. We had a couple of 
things which were really quite disap¬ 
pointing. But we were a very young 
company and we didn't know much 
about the business”. 

That ignorance included how long it 
takes to produce a game - something 
that still causes a number of companies 
to trip up. 



'*That led to a product gap in the 
second quarter of "84. We^d made a 
decision at the start of the year that, 
rather than follow the trend to bang 
out as much product as possible, we'd 
go for the quality end. Which meant 
that between February or March and 
August '84, we didn't release 
anything". 

But despite the resulting loss of 
cashflow, following a healthy Christ¬ 
mas period Elite was far from dead, 
Steve saw the real danger to the com¬ 
pany not in terms of being forgotten, 
but in churning out bad product. A 
couple of projects were scrapped when 
they didn't make the grade. 

The game that heralded the re- 
emergence of Elite was the third of 
their sporting tie-ins, Frank Brunovs 
Boxing, “We spent a long lime devel¬ 
oping it and there was a spate of boxing 
games, so we had to make the decision 
whether to rush it out. 

"We took the longer term view and 
decided to develop it properly, wait the 
two months, and put out a good pro¬ 
gram”. This philosophy worked, and 
Frank Bruno became micro champ 
immediately. He"s still there, battling 
away, though looking rather queasy, 
on the Joyce, 

There was another three mopth gap 
before the first game that was to 
launch the series for which Elite is 
probably best known^ its coin-op 
conversions. Commando shot out of the 
arcades when Elite observed the 
success of titles such as Hypersports, 
But, as I pointed out to Steve, it’s veiy 
easy to imitate the style of a machine 
without going to the expense of 
obtaining official permission. 

'Te£?”, he agre^, "but the name is 
important. It’s the only way you can 
produce a perfect copy of the game. 
There were a number of Commando 
clones out but the only way to do it 
properly is to take out a license”. 


Gut feelings 

I was interested in how yoii go about 
choosing a machine from the arcades, 
then obtaining permission from its 
manufacturer. Steve’s formula for 
Success is to look for a degree of 
originality mixed with playability. “But 
it's a mixture of gut feeling and talking 
to people in the coin-op business", Steve 
explained, 

Coin ops are big business. There’s 
even an annual trade fair at Olympia in 
London. Steve tells me that there’s a lot 
of competition for the best titles. 
However he reckons that there are 
more machines than could be converted 
in a year, so the supply shouldn't dry up 
just yet. Elite has licensed games from 


eight or nine different publishers so far. 

Once he's decided on his title the 
negotiations begin, and it can be an 
expensive business. “There are a 
number of significant interested par¬ 
ties, and it does force the prices up”. 
Some of the companies have UK offices, 
but Steve can find himself dealing 
directly with the USA or even Japan, 

Som^ companies are more concerned 
with how the conversion ivorks out 
than others, hut Elite always sends out 
demos as programming progresses and 
there is always the right of approval as 
an incentive to get things right. 

Programmer 

education 

That process is helj>ed by making the 
programmers get to know the game, so 
one of Elite’s first moves is to buy a 
machine and set it for free play. This 
can then be used by the people who will 
do the coding, so that they know every 



little detail - a job which sounds like 
heaven or helL depending on your atti¬ 
tude to arcades. 

While much of Elite’s programming 
has been done on a freelance basis 
aw^ay from Walsall* one of the moves in 
"87 is to recruit a team of programmers, 
graphic artists and a musician. "Not a 
very large number to begin with, but 
we want people who can do the job 
properly”. 

But the program development 
houses will continue to play a vital role, 
and Elite frequently deals with three or 
four teams, plus individuals. 

Once the team has taken the original 
to bits, they’re in a position to submit a 
proposal to Elite, detailing what they 
think they can include in the game and 
hoiv they intend to tackle its problems. 
Target dates are set* and after that 

Page 66 


Amstrad User May 1987 







































work in progress is submitted every 
two to three weeks. 

Lack of computer training is no 
setback for Steve. He’s absorbed 
enough information about what is and 
what isn’t possible on the various 
micros. So when the prototype is evalu¬ 
ated back in Walsall it can be returned 
to the programmers with a report 
which details suggestions for alter¬ 
ations, whether they’re major changes 
or mere fine tuning. 

Development usually takes 
something over six months, but Elite 
hopes to have a finished version six 
weeks to two months before it appears 
into the shops. Bombjack 11, which has 
only just appeared, was completed on 
two systems before Christmas. 

It’s not all coin-op conversions at 
Elite. Scooby Doo was a return to the 
tie-in formula. It also appeared long 
after it had been announced, and in a 
very different form to its original 
concept. I asked Steve why, 

"We’d bought the license quite a time 
ago, in early ’85”, he said. Originally it 
was meant to be something akin to 
Dragon’s Lair, with events in one 
episode shaping what happened next. 
“It was meant to play very similarly to 
that, but we ran into memory prob¬ 
lems, At that stage we were very unso¬ 
phisticated as far as program 
development was concerned”. 

So the project, was re-designed, this 
time by the more than capable Gar¬ 
goyle team, and Steve is now pleased 
with the product, though 1 detect a 
certain amount of regret that the 
original, ambitious and innovative idea 
never came to pass. 

The one area where Elite was left 
with egg on its face in ’SB was the £2.99 
Classics r^nge of budget re-releases. 
“We recognised that there was a ^- 
tion of the market that was growdng, 
But I think, on reflection, that we 
didn’t have the management capacity 
at that stage to administer the project. 
It was a lesson very well leamt, even if 
it was a rather embarrassing one”. 

However they’ve not given up on the 
idea of value for money software. 

Following the success of last year's 
four program Hit Pack, this year will 
see a compilation from various sources, 
including Scooby Doo, Antiriad, 
Fighting Warrior, Split Personalities, 
1942 and Jet Set Willy II - all for only 
£9.95. 

1987 will also see a slight shift of 
emphasis from the coin-op conversions. 
In fact the yearns first release, 
Bombjack II, is half way to being an 
original. 

Instead of just having to collect the 
bombs, Jack now has to get them in 
order. And the nasties have become 
more vicious, metamorphosing into 


tougher threats the longer he leaves 
them. The only way to deal with them 
is to push them off the ledges. New 
backdrops range from Sydney Opera 
House to Stonehenge, 

Future plans 

Out of the 12 titles that Elite plans to 
release in the year - the limit of the 
company’s programming resources, 
according to Steve — four or 
thereabouts will be wholly or semi¬ 
original. 

These could include licenses, because 
Elite owns some tie-ins which they plan 
to sit on for a while. "But we’re not 
willing to do what some of our 
competitors do”, Steve says, in uncom¬ 
promising tones, ^'and buy up 25 prop¬ 
erties then put them out, even if they 
are crap”. 

Elite now boasts 14 permanent staff, 
spread over two floors. The only prob¬ 
lem that 1 can see with their premises is 
that the warehouse space is on the first 
floor and there’s no lift. This means 
that Scott and Mark, vrhose realm is 
the stockroom, have to shift as many as 
150 parcels a day up and down the 
stairs. 

But constant movement of product is 
important, and the newly computerised 
system ensures that there is a fast 
turnover to suppliers. 

*Tt’s a very tight little operation”, 
Steve says. “Overheads are very 
small”. But with a turnover of around 
£3 million last year, it’s become necess¬ 
ary to take on a couple more adminis¬ 
trative staff, if only to ease the burden 
on Steve’s father, Brian, who has 
handled this side from the start, 

Elite’^s growth, based on quality, will 
be an organic affair, not a sudden flash 
in the pan though. 

Looking forward to the next year, 
Steve is quite happy about the position 
of the Amstrad. “It’s an important 
machine to us, it’s also a machine that 
we’re able to produce some extremely 
pleasant games on, so we like it in 
that respect too”. He quotes 
Ikari Warriors as a 
good example of 
Arnold’s capabilities 

Amstrad software 
is also doing its bit 


for the export drive. It’s very popular in 
France and Germany, where Elite has 
subsidiary companies, and in January 
foreign sales exceeded UK figures. 

But Steve laments the cost of discs, 
which he claims makes a market for 
disc based software economically un- 
viable in the UK at least. 

One of the big questions for the 
coming year is whether games consoles 
will take a bite out of the computer 
market, Steve thinks that they’ll com¬ 
plement each other, but reckons that 
the pricing structure at the moment is 
all wrong. 

"We wouldn’t publish a game for 
these machines if it has to sell for £15 
or £20 a piece. It’s going to depend on 
tho 9 e prices”. 

Finally I ask Steve about his plans 
for games for the PCW and PC, 

In both cases he says that any moves 
would be “toe in the water operations’. 

So while you shouldn’t be surprised 
by an equally green successor to Frank 
Bruno, or the Elite logo on a 514in disc, 
you can be sure that Steve and his 
team will have looked long and hard at 
the potential market before playing 
their best shot. 

You don’t get rich by ripping off the 
customers or throwing money around. 
Caution is the way you join the Elite, 


ACU 


Sieve Wilcoxi 
Success h “o 
mixture of gut 
feeling and 
talking to 
people** 


























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Pushin’ an’ poppin’ 
round the stack 

For those people who have not 
had their fill of machine code, 

Peter Green fearlessly discusses 
the joy of stacks 


In virtually any machine code routine 
you see published there will be a 
number of program lines using the 
PUSH and POP instructions- People 
who have only programmed in Basic 
may not have come across these terms 
as there are no Basic keyword 
equivalents, However, Basic does use 
them in a hidden v/ay, as you’ll see in a 
moment. 

PUSH and POP are used to manipu¬ 
late data on a type of structure called a 
stack, which is simply a list of numbers 
stored in the computer's memory, but 
which can only be “got at” in a special 
way. The analogy usually made - and 
who am I to break with tradition? — is of 
a stack of plates. 

You can add (PUSH) plates on to the 
top of the stackj and later remove 
(POP) them off again, but the first plate 
you POP off must obviously be the last 
one you PUSHed on. You can’t get at 
the plates further down the stack until 
the ones higher up have been removed. 
This is why stacks are also knowm as 
Last-In First-Out (LIFO) buffers. 

What kind of jobs can we do with a 
stack? Basic uses one to keep track of 
the return addresses of GOSUBs. 
Remember that in Basic, subroutines 
can be nested; that is» one subroutine 
can call another, which can call yet 
another and so on. All the GOSUBs are 
ended by the same command. 
Return, and yet each time the return is 
made to the correct place in the pro¬ 
gram. 

What Basic does, when it finds a 
GOSUB command, is to PUSH the 
address of the next command onto a 
stack, and then go to the subroutine. 
When it finds a Return, Basic POPs 
whatever is on the top of stack and uses 
that as the return address. So each 
Return goes back to the most recently- 
called GOSUB; the stack structure 
automatically ensures the correct pro¬ 
gram flow. 

Since computers don’t have an infin¬ 
ite amount of memory, PUSHing 
without popping will eventually till 
the stack. That"s why there"s a limit to 
the depth that subroutines may be 
nested - about 50 on the Amstrad 
(“about’" 50 because other functions 
may use some stack space, too). 

On the Z80, as in any other micro¬ 
processor I know of, the programmer is 
provided with a “hardware stack”, that 
is the stack function is built into the 
chip. Since we’re dealing wdth numbers 

Page 68 


held in memory, not china plates on a 
table, we need a 16 bit pointer to keep 
track of the position of the top of the 
stack. This, not unreasonably, is called 
the stack pointer, and in op-code 
mnemonics which refer te it directly it 
is called SP. For example, the Z80 stack 
can be anywhere in the 64k address 
space, so to place the stack at &C000 
you ivrite: 

LD SP,&C000 

This is where the Amstrad firmware, 
and most applications, initialise the 
stack pointer. Now alert readers will be 
saying “Wait a minute! The Amstrad 
screen memory starts at &C(K>0, Using 
the stack will corrupt the screen”. 

Well, if the stack behaved like our 
china plates and grew upwards, you’d 
be right. Luckily, as numbers are added 
to the stack its top moves downwards in 
memory. We say that the stack “grows 
downwards”, so that when a number is 
PUSHed^ SP decreases, and when a 
number is POPped, SP increases. 

This is not just bloody-mindedness on 
the part of the chip designers. Since the 
program instructions start in low 
memory and run upwards, if the stack 
starts in high memory and runs 
dovcnwards you minimise the risk that 
they will try to use the same memory, 
corrupting either the program or the 
stack contents and crashing the 
machine. 

Use and abuse 

So what is the Z80 stack used for? The. 
most obvious answer is for storing 
subroutine return addresses, just like 
Basic. Whenever you CALL a routine, 
the address of the next instruction after 
the CALL is automatically PUSHed on 
to the stack, and the ZSO jumps to the 
routine. 


When a RET is executed, the return 
address is POPped off the stack and 
into the PC (program counter) re^ster, 
and the program continues running at 
the instruction after the CALL. 

However, the PUSH and POP 
instructions also allow the programmer 
bo store any of the 16 bit register pairs 
on the stack and retrieve them later. 
As Tve painted out before in this serieE+ 
in machine code the registers are 
heavily used, and data has to be 
continually moved in and out of them. 

Values that need to be saved 
temporarily while a register is used for 
something else could be loaded directly 
into a memory and retrieved later, but 
such op-codes must include the memory 
address and use three or four bytes. 

PUSH and POP automatically use 
SP as a memory pointer^ so they need 
only one Or two bytes, making the pro¬ 
gram smaller and faster. 

You have te be careful how you use 
the stack, because mucking it up is 
easy to do, and always disastrous. For 
example, remember you can’t PUSH a 
set of variables on to the stack, CALL a 
subroutine and then POP the values 
back off as parameters for the routine 
to use. 

The first thing you POP will be the 
return address that the CALL placed 
on top of your data, so the subroutine 
will be working on the wrong numbers 
and has also thrown away its correct 
return address. This is a common mis¬ 
take among machine code beginners (it 
took me ages to stop doing it!). 

Another point is that w hen using the 
stack to store temporarily register 
values that a CALLed subroutine 
would otherwise corrupt (we do this a 
lot in the example program this 
month), the registers must be POPped 
off in the reverse order that they w^ere 
PUSHed remember LIFO! Get into the 

Amstrad U^r May 1987 














PROGRAMMING 



b^cl!^r(;gnd_colour=T£STRt0,&) 

IF bacfcgfound-CoLour^fiH.talQur TbEN RETURN 

LET graphics_foreground-CQioijrsfiiL.coLour 

statk-poiriters-l 

PUSH ?tart_>;::PUSH start.y 

NHILEI st3clf_pcii ntEr>~1 
POP y:P0P x 
MOVE 

WNILE2 T£STR(d!(^0]i=bacJ(,gifpurjd_coLour AJiD )t+d]!<640 
K-K*tfX 
)JEND2 

topsl:botton-1 
HOVE 

LlJ^ILES TES7JK&j,&)=bat kground.to lour ANI} x>-1 
PLOT 

LET t«st_colouf=rESTfr(0,2) 

If y>i96 THEN CPp=0 

IF test-CoLogj'Obackgroijnd-COlour THEN top^^l 
ELSE iF top*1 THEN PUSH xtPUSH y+2:top=0 

LET t&st_coLt}ur’TESTR(0,-4)- 
IF y<2 THEN bottCMi-0 

IF teat_cflIour<>backgro'jrTd_coLq.ur THEN bpctcim=t 
ELSE IF bottcm=1 THEN PUSH ii:PUSH y"2:boct&fl=0 

)!=)(-dx 
WOVE x,y 
UiNOJ 

UEND1 


habit of ordering such a sequence 
alphabetically, thusi 

PUSH AF 
PUSH BC 
PUSH HL 

CALL someth]ng-or-other 

POP HL 
POP BC 
POP AF 

That makes it easier to spot any silly 
errors when debugging. Some pro¬ 
grammers use PUSH reverse- 
alphabetically and POP alphabetically. 
Well, there’s no accounting for taste. 

Of course, you might want to s’wap 
registers deliberately using the .stack. 
The only op-code provided for a register 
swap is EX DEjHL^ which puts the con¬ 
tents of register pair DE into HL and 
vice versa. But if you needed, say, the 
equivalent of EX DE,BC, then; 

PUSH BC 
PUSH DE 
POP BC 
POP DE 

will do the trick. This is also the only 

Amstrad UsserMay 1&87 


(legal } way of copying values between 
the general register pairs 
(AF,BCtDE,HL} and the index regis¬ 
ters (IX and lY). Again, both these 
techniques feature in the example 
listing. 

Finally, there’s no reason to limit 
yourself to the machine stack. A stack 
is ju.st a block of memory; a top-of-stack 
address pointer and a defined rule for 
accessing the data. The Z60 has plenty 
of 16 bit registers, so why not use one to 
set up your own user stack for certain 
applications? You’ve guessed it - see 
the example listing! 

rilling you in 

The example program this month is an 
area fill based on an algorithm that 
guarantees every nook and cranny of a 
closed shape will be reached, It makes 
heavy use of the machine stack, mainly 
to preserve registers through CALLs to 
the Amstrad's graphics firmware 
routines (most of which corrupt most of 
the registers). It also sets up a user 
stack, with the lY register as a stack 


pointer, to store tho screen coordinates 
of any unfilled areas it will need to 
process later. 

Listing I is a description of the fill 
algorithm in pseudocode (that is, 
English-like hut not corresponding 
exactly to any real programming lan¬ 
guage). 

Listing n is the equivalent trans¬ 
lation into Amstrad machine code. The 
pseudocode uses three WHILB^WEND 
loops which are not available in 
machine code, but there'^s nothing to 
.stop us simulating them by using con¬ 
ditions and machine codt= GOTOs, that 
is JR and JP, in the right way. 

Structured programming doesn’t 
mean never using GOTO; it means 
using it properly, In machine code, 
GOTO and GOSUB are all we’ve got to 
work with. 

To show how the loops translate into 
machine code, I’ve numbered them as 
WHILE LWENDl, WHILE2-WEND2 
and WH1LE3-WEND3 in Listing I, 
with similar labels in Listing IL 

If the colour of the starting point is 
the same as the required fill colour, the 

Page 69 




























PROGRAMMING 



routine quits immediately. Tben the 
value dx is set up^ which is the number 
of user coordinates'pixel in the x direc¬ 
tion. This reduces the testing overhead 
on the lower resolution screens. 

The algorithm works hy treating a 
dosed figure to be filled as a series of 
horizontal lines, each one pixel high. 
The routine moves to the extreme right 
hand end of a line segment^ then moves 
to the left, filling the line pixel by pixel. 
As it goes, it also checks above and 
below, and if it finds a new, unfilled line 
segment (that is a pixel still in the 
background colour), it adds a coordi¬ 
nate from that segment to the user 
stack. The Hags “top"* and '"bottom*’ are 
used to ensure that only one point fall 
we need) from each unfilled line seg¬ 
ment is added to the stack, to avoid 
wasting stack space. 

When the extreme left hand end of 
the line segment being filled is reached, 
the program POPs a new^ point off the 
user stack, moves to that coordinate 
and repeats the whole procedure. 

The routine fills either as far as the 
first non-background colour in any 
direction or the edge of the screen. Note 
that the coordinates for the edges 
(0-639, 0-399) assume that the origin 
(point 0,0) is at the lower left hand 
corner of the screen. Use ORIUIN 0,0 


or the machine code equivalent (GRA_ 
SET_ORlGIN)ifin doubt. 

The fill is started by picking a point 
within the area to be filled and “pri¬ 
ming” the user stack with that point. It 
nnighes when the user stack is empty, 
that is all line segments within the 
boundary have been identified and 
filled. 

The price to pay is speed, though, To 
guarantee not missing a point, every 
pixel in the figure is tested at least 
twice, and sometimes three or four 
times. 

The user stack can't shrink indefi¬ 
nitely, because when it's empty we’ve 
finished filling. It can't grow indefi¬ 
nitely, because we test the user stack 
pointer and abort the PUSH if the 
stack is full. Since the stack can’t 
escape from its fixed allocation of 256 
bytes of memory, it doesn’t matter 
much whether it grows up or down. So 
for variety, Pve arranged for the user 
stack bo grow upwards. 

Also note that a single “push-user'' 
stores the four bytes from DE and HL 
on the stack, whereas the machine 
stack stores two bytes (that's w^hy all 
data storage on the stack is in register 
pairs like AF, BC and so on). You can 
tailor user stacks to suit your appli¬ 
cation. 



As a stiff test, the demo in Listing II 
prints the woixls “Pan-galactic Gargle- 
blaster” (the editor’s favourite tipple), [ 
draws a box round them and fills the 
box, This example uses up about half 
the user stack space. If the stack should , 
fill up, any further points are simply 
not added, so parts of the figure w^on’t j 
get filled. 


dUG mu 

TS(T .OUTPUT 
TKT-SET.CUliSOli 

nTlyi. 

■SHAJET ?EN 
EHA.PLOT AeSflLUTE 
SM.TEST_A0S^)LUTE 
GM.TEST_H£LAT]VE 
GM.LTNEJlLATll/E 

HE SET ¥mi 
Ufi.&n l^06E 


m £035 A 
EHU &BBT5 

m aescD 
Ei^u imi 
EQ'U iSEEA 

EQu iaEfia 

EQU 

CQU t3B;F9 

EtU EBC11 


;3tt H'Jde t f'jr dEno 

tursor [g riddlf cf scrEffi 
;lt ] vf Ki^ard thit l!Efdr(... 

;-Spt graphics pidi tftloijf (cjn t do this in BASK!) 


LD 1.^1 

[ALL SCR.SEt.N&lFE 
LD 

[ALL TIT.SET.tURS&ff 
ED HL,4tring 
CALL print 

Lt 

CALL GRA-SET-Ptsi 

U Df,J& 

LD kL.ire 1 

tULL fiflAJDVE.A&SOLUTE jl'ovE tfl top Left hind iorner of s tpi: 

LD PE.AS^ 

LD HL^S 

CALL &RA.LINE.RELATlV£ 

LD DE,EI 
LD ilL,-3fc 

CALL ISKA .UNE RELAtlVt 
LD DE,'4^0 
LD 

CALL SRA.LINE.RELATIVE 
LD DE^H 
LD IIL,36 

LULL EUA.LINE.HELNTE'^E jDriii i Dok raurtd thi test 


LD A,3 
LD DE,]<4 
LD HLhT6H 

call fill 

RET 


;FiU ban id PEH 3 

;Start i CDard ftf fill (in user eegrU-s!! 

;Btairt y tOOflS for fill (in user ctJardsl 

^FiLI the box 

;and quit 


,print 
U A,(HL) 

]«IC HL 
OR A 
RET I 

CALL tm Du I’D lit 
JP print 


.Sinn'S 

tENT 'Pan-Giletfic eafgleblailEr'J 


ynu alL knoh hgu this ent uorks by hdu 


,ti U 


;£ntrv conditidfts: A^renuired fill cfllour 
; Dt=usfr i; coori of stari point 

j HL=usef f coorfli flf start paint 

;E!(it tftndit'ioin: All reg-isttrs torrupt 


HiH AF 
PlESH DC 
PUSH HL 

CALL SRA.TEST.A330LUTI 

L^ n^backgt^otind.cDlo-yr 

LD (J!i+03,A 

POP HL 

PDP DE 

PUP Al 

CP (Il+fl) 

RET Z 

CALL 5RA.SET_P£N 

CULL SCR-GET.rtDDt 
LD A,*i 
JR C,set_'dji 
LD A,? 

JR 

LD A,1 

■ set dx 
LD CJK+n^A 
LD ET^statk-1 
CALL pu?h_ul^r 

.Whi 


;$ave required fi U colour 
;5avE fill atari x coord 
;Save fill start y eooro 
;LET A=tolour ot sti?l position 

;SLDra background-coLeur 
;iiestare fi U start f toord 
;ReslDre ti ll scan x coord 
;RBStDff filL tolpur 
as background? 

;g;uit if saae 

;LET giaphi CS-foresrnund-COlaur-f i I L'tolour 

;yKat niit art no in? 

;d!! IS A for Mode 0 

;dx is Z for Hade 1 

;0]| is 1 for Hgde 2 


J 


Pane 70 


Amstrad User May 1987 



























































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Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 71 






















































PROGRAMMING f 




•.iisiglv 




PUSH \f 


POP HL 

;Copr kisfr stick oointtr to HL '(via nachifie stack 

LO liE^st»{i( 


OP A 

jClfiT the^carfr flag 

SBC HL^DE 


JP CfHtnd] 

;Ju*p out of HHILEl if Btadk,pdintif=-1 

LO H.(1V*0} 


OEC It 


L6 L,aif*0> 


Ott [If 

jPOP y 

Lt D,i:iT«0} 


oEt n 


Lf EndT+a) 


OEC Ilf 

JPOP K 

PU^H DE 

jSaoF i 

PUSH ML 

jSao*- f 

CALL ^RAJDVEJBSOLUIE 

JHOVE 

POP HL 

jfiestoffr y 

POP ti 

jEestori X 

.while2 


PUSH bE 

jSavi X 

PUSH HL 

;Sav? y 

Lb 


LB £,(L)[+I. 

;bE = iv 

PUSH BE 

jSavi bt 

LB Hti 


CALI flHA_TEST_HELftT[VE 

;A=TESTHCdXf0) 

POP SC 

jiC=dx 

POP HL 

;HL=y 

POP BE 

;BE = ic 

CP (ll! + 0) 

;IF TESTHtdx^aiobackgrsund-CCil&ur 

JR 

jTKEH quit the nhilf^ loop' 

EK OE.HL 

;x to HL^ y to DE 

PilSH Hi 

;Savi A 

m HL,0C 

; Hl=K^"dK 

PUS.H Hi 

;Savo 

LB BZ,6ii 


SBC HL^BC 

;(rhe ABD dilL hauf clfarfd thf tarz-y flag) 

POP Bf 

;BC=x*dx 

POP HI 

;HL’x 

Eii BEhHL 

;Suip K and y incti proper registers 

JR HCnUendP 

;IF HOT THEN quit the uhiLaZ Uop 

ID B,B 


LP EJ 

;LET DE = Atdjf 

JS 

;anij leep ha'll, as per nornaL WHILE, cpndition 

. iiend2 

;C&Bf here uher, UH[LE? conditions are FALSE 

SET 1,(l!i+2> 

;LET t(}p=t 

SET 

;LET bottbP=1 

PUSH OE 

;SavE 1 

PUSH HL 

;Save y 

CALL GRMOVE ABSOLIIIE 

jHDVE ii,y 

POP HL 

^Restore y 

POP 6E 

;Restore t 

, d h i 111 


PISH DE 

;Save x 

PUSH HL 

jSave r 

Lb bE^0 

;Set relative a 

Lb HL^0 

;and relative y to lerfl 

CALL GRR.TEST.REUTIVE 

;lET A=tolPur it current tursor positi&ri 

POP HL 

jftfstore y 

POP DE 

;REStore x 

CP (1^+0) 

;1F TESTPCfl^Blobackground-CPloor 

JP 

;ThEN fluit wtii le3 Loop 

0IT ^D 

;Hai BE gone negative? 

JP NI,ueRd3 

:rF yes, tHtTi quit ahile! loop 

POSH DE 

;Sa've a 

PUSH HL 

JJave y 

CALL iSRA,PLOT.ABSOLUTE 

jPLOT x,y 

LO DEJ 

;Rela[ive * 

LD HLx2 

^Relative y 

CALL fiHl.TEST.RELATIVE 

;LET A=TEJTR[0,2) 

POP BC 

;LET BC=y 

POP BE 

;LEr DE^K 

lb HL.J^J 


on A 


SBC HL,BC 

;LET HL-J?F-y 

LD H,B 


LO L,C 

jLET HL=BC-y 

JR HC ,ii6t.t6p_li nt 

;If y<39fi THEN skip 

RES 1,([l+?3’ 

;ptheryi«e set tciP'0 

inflt.cnp^Lin# 


CP [l]!t0> 

jII test.cnlour^background.colour 

JR l,el\€ck_H)p 

;THEN check t'PP 

SET 1,C1)!*2) 

;ELSE LET top«l 


Page 72 


JR checLbelpy 

;jnd skip over code for first IF TRUE 


p check-top 



BJT I.CiKt?) 



JR I,clieck,„beLou 

;IF NOT CtDp=lJ THEN check line beloy 


me HL 



]HC HL 

;ELS£ LET HL = y4.Z 


CALL push^user 

;Push X and y coords pn user stack 


BEC HL 



BEC HL 

;RestPfe old y 


RES 

jLET top=& 


. check_be loii 



PUSH Of 

jSave X 


PUSH.HL 

jSave y 


Lb bE,0 

jRelative k 


LD HL,-4 

jReletive y 


CALL ORA-TEST.RELATIVE 

jLEt n=TESTii{e,-A) 


POP HL 

jRestore y 


POP DE 

;Rectore jc 


LD BC,2 



OR A 

jiClear the tarry flag 


PUSH HL 

jSaue y 


SBC HL,BC 

JLET HL'y-2 


POP HL 

jSestore y 


JR HC^not_bottoi_Line 

;IF y>1 THEH skip 


RES 0,(]k+2) 

jELSf LET boltpi-e ' 


.npt_DotlOi.Li ne 



CP 

;lf lest_coLobf=liai.kgrpund,celour 


JR I^theck.Dd'ttAi 

jTHEN check bott'Oi 


SET 

jELSE LET hottoP'l 


jR iove_lett 

jaiid skip over code for first H TRUE 


^cDeck.hottPi 



BIT 0,(H42J 

;IF HOT (bottoa=lT 


JR ifDpve^left 

jCHER nflve cursor left 


DEC HL 



DEC HL 

jILSE LET ltL=y-2 


CALL puih,^user 

;Push K and y coords on user stack 


IRC HL 



me HL 

;Restore old y 


RES iAn*i) 

;LEl botlDi-fl 


,iOve.Left 



it DE,HL 

;NpvB 1 to HL, y to DE 


LD C,(]l!t15 



LD 

;LET BC=Ua 


DR A 



SBC HL,BC 

jLET HL=i-dA 


El B|,HL 

;Hove x-dx to BE, y tfl HL 


PUSH BE 

;Sive K 


PUSH kL 

;Save y 


CALL ERA.NDVE^ABSOLUTE 

jHOVE 


POP HL 

jRestare y 


POP BE 

jREStnre x 


JP uhiLe3 

;Loos back as per nornal UHllE constructinn 


.NendS 

;Coie here yhen kHlLES coo-ditigns ere fALSE and 


JP uhUel 

; loop back as per nprpial ilHlLE construction 


.^uendl 

jtoiie here irhen UHRII canditions are FALIE 


RET 

jand quit the FILL rgutina 


Hpush.user 



PUEH HL 

;Saue y 


PUSH IT 



POP HL 

jCnpy user siacl pointer to HI 


Lb 6C,stack42S6-A 

jrtake sure rogn tor tour bytes on 256^byte user stack 


DR A 

jClear the tarry flag 


SBC HL,Bt 

;Bo a l&'bit coqpare 


POP HL 

:Restore y 


RET HC 

;Eiiit no rpoi on stack 


INC IT 



LD {IT+H),E 



INC IT 



LD (IT+&),D 

jELSE PUSH X on user stack 


INC IT 



LD (lTt&),L 



INC IT 



LD (n + 0),H 

;and PUS'N y on user stack 


RET 



.DackgrPun.d.cPlour 

BYTE 0 jStore background colour here 


■ dx 

BTTE % ;Store nd. 'Sf user coorUi per pixel 


.tpp_ilPtlOii 

BTTE 0 :Store Cvo (lags, top and botcen, in two bits 

1 

. scatk 

RHEN 254 tdeer stack for (ill 

1 


ACU 1 



Amstrad User May 1987 






























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Page TA 


Ametr&d User May 1987 









































TASWORD 6128 


THEWOt 



PROCESSOR FOR THEAMSTRAD CPC 6128 




TAS-DMIir 

TH^ £L£CrfiONiC DiARY 


TA5-DtARYfof the Amstnd CPC 6126,664 
464 with disc drive disc £f3.0O 


Keep art electronic dey-to-d^y diary on disci 
TA5-DIARY features a clock, calendar and a 
separate screen display for every day of the 
year. Each year stored on disc includes a memo 
pad an^ several note pages, TAS-DlARY rs an 
invaluable aid to keeping records, reminders, 
and any other data which is related to that 
most valuable cornmodity of ours - tsmel 


TASWORDei28 

THE WORD PROCESSOR 


TA SWORD 6128 for the Amstrsd CPC 6126 
disc £24.95 


Briliiarjt value for money. 

AMSTRAD ACTION December 1985 
A powerful and easy to use word processor and a 
superbdata mergeprogram. 

AM TiX December 1985. 
TA5W0RD 612S is the word processor especialiy 
developed to utilise the extra memory in the CPC 
6128. 

The program usesAL i theadditionai 64K of memory 
in the CPC 6128as text space. This means that text 
files can be around ten thousand words tong. 
TASWORD 6128 includes a built-in da ta merge 
program. Mali merge, in which a letteris printed any 
number of times, each individuatiy addressed to a 
differen t person, is just one of the applications of this 
powerful facility. 

The notepads are a unipue fea tme of TASWORD 
6 ^ 28. Four separa fe notepads are a vailable. Typing 
reminders and storing letter headings are Just two 
possible apptica tions for the r\otepads. 

Up to one thousand characters can be stored in ten 
user definable keys allowing comrryonly used words, 
sentences, or even paragraphs to be typed with a 
sin^ekej^ress. 

T.^WORO 6123 has comprehensive customisation 
features. These allow many of the program facilities 
to be changed to personal requiremerfts. A 
customised program can be saved and Includes the 
notepads and user definable keys. 
TA5WORD6128is My compatible with TA6-5PELL 
and TASPRiNT. it wilt also read In data from 
Mhterf)te6128. itcan even be used toenterandedit 
your own Sasic programs. 

With all standard and many extra word processing 
fadtities TASWORD6128istbemostpowefiutofthe 
TASWORDS, for the Amstrad CPC computers. 


TAsyifom4e4^ 

THE WORD PROCESSOR-WITH MAIL MERCEl 


TASWORD464-D disc £24.95 


This is the new TASWORD especialiy developed to 
utilise the capabilities of the C!FC 464and 6^ disc 
‘drives The at^ibonal facilities include a larger text file 
size and automate on-seteen disc directories 
during save and had operations. A major new 
feature is the mail merge facility. This ^es multple 
prints of your standard letters, fofms,etc., wUheath 
copy containing, for example, a name and address 
automa tcaJly taken from a disc file containii^ the 
data. This data cart be entered using TASWORD 
464 -D, or created using the Masterfile Program 
Extension package. A powerful and useful 
conditional printing fadlity fe induded -parts of a 


document can be printed according to user-specified 
criteria. TASWORD464-D will orily run on, and 1$ 


only supplied on, disc. 


Tas~spell 

THE SPELLINC CHECKER 


TAS-SP6LLdisc£l6.59 
forthe Amstrad CPC 464 and664running 
TASWORD464-D and for the CPC 6128 running 
TASWORD 6128 


Spelling mistakes and typing errors spoil any 
document whether it is a pnvate letter or your latest 


novel. With TAS-SPELL you are free to be creative in 
the corjfident kno vdedge that your spelling warr 'f let 
you down. 

TAS-SPELL checks the spelling of TASWORD 464-D 
and TASWORD 6128 text files. TAS-SPELL has a 
dlctionaryofweitovertwenty thousand words which 
it compares with the words in your text. If a word is 
not recognised then the relevant part of your text is 
displayed with the word hightign ted. You 

cancorreettheword, ^noreitdtmightheaname}, or 
even add it to the TAI^SPELL dicbonary. 

Please note that TAS-SPELL will only work with 
L4S 464 -D and TASWORD 6128, 


TASP§mT4€4 

THESTYLE WRITER 


TASPRINT464cassette £9.90 c/f sc £12,90 


A must for dot-matrix print ownersl Frintyour 
program output and listings in a choice of five 
impressive print styles. T^PRiNT464 utilises the 


graphics capabilrties of dot-matix printers to form, 
with a double pass of the printhead, outputirt a rangd 


of five fonts varying from the futuristic DATA-RU\ 
to the hand-writing style of PALACE SCRIPT. 
TASPRINT464 drives the dot-matrix printers listed 
below and can be usedtopnnt AM5WORD/ 
TA5WORO464 texi files. TASPRiNT464gives 
'tout originality and Style. Completely compatible 
tri the 6^ and 6128. 


ou\ 

wi\ 


TASWORD 464 

THE WORD PROCESSOR 


TASWORD464 cassette £19,95 


**Thereis no better Justification for buying a 
464 than this program*' 
POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY, 
NOVEMBER 1984 


Tasword 

Upgrades 


TASWORD464 and Amsword owners: send your 
original cassette or disc (not the packaging) as proof 
ofpurchaseandEl3,90. Youroiiginalwilt be 
returned together with TASWORD 464-0 or 
TASWORD 6128 on disc. 


Your464 becomes a professior}al standard word 
processor with TASWORD 464. Supplied complete 
with a comprehensive manual and a cassette which 
contains txoth the program and TASWORD 464 
TUTOR This teaches you word processing using 
TASWORD464, Whether you nave serious 
applications orsimpiy want to learn about word 
processing, TASWORD464 and the TUTOR make 
easy and enjoyable. 


TASCOPY464 

THE SCREEN COPiER 


TASCQPY464 cassette £9,90 disc £12M 


A suiteoffast machine code screen copy software k 

the CPC464,664 and 6128. Print high-resolution 
screen copies in black and white and also iar^ 
'shaded 'copies with different dot densities hr the 
various screen colours, TA5COPY464 also produO 
'postersiie * screen copies printed onto two or four 
sheets which can be cut and joined to make the 
poster. 


TASPRiNT464 and TASCOPY464 drive the 

following dot-matrix printers:. 


mTHADDMPt STAAiM‘501.mi5 5miWACF-9> 

iPsoxRi-m tallymt-so 3P.ojmfm cosA^sae 

SfiSONfbi-SO iifiOTWi'jWlOP? 

iPSOHMir-eoTYFfiii NfCfxso^ie-N DATAcmmfiit 


I 



















































































TASWORD PC 


THE WORD PROCESSOR FOR THE IBM PC, THE AIHSTRAD PC, 4/VO 4/X OTHER COIHPA TIDIES 




1 TwL. iita 

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Ll^ Htel MLIitllttfl 


A profossionat word processor at a serjsibfe price! Send for the free 
brochure or send just £? for the TASWORO PC trial disc. This trial disc 
is the full pro^am except dial printing and saving text is inhibited. Ypu 
can type text and use ail the other wide range of program features. 
Explore at your leisure to discover the benefits of urns TASWORD PC 
A voucher suppiied with the trial disc is worth £ 1 off the price of the full 
program ana manuaL 





DPC TRIAL DtSQ 


lore than 20 
lettering 
styles! 


Z-JLJ- 




THE STYI.E WRITER 



A must for dot matrix printer owners! Print logos and headings, orenb're 
documents, in a choice of more dian twenty new print styles. TASPRiNT 
PC utilises the graphics capahiUtfes of dot matrix printers to form, with 
a double pass of the print head, fettering in the specified styie at 
^pruximatety twice the height of normal printer output TASPRINT PC 
is completely compatible with TASWORD PC. It wiii also print text 


1 

1 

iti dot msttUt pnrtlert mth dot jrrap^ics 

pnnltfle CAf>^bikbei. These inctude: 


Admate 

Canon 

^taflfW5i™nif? Taify 

Sh^wa 

Amstrad 

CUrztrr 

NEC 

SirrUhComna 

Astech 

Dtitech 

Ue<rvinify 

Soni 

Brother 

Epson 

Pafw«vw 

Star 

C itoh 

K^’Tayan 

Se'iiit{M/?a 



produced by other pro^ams. in addition, TASPRINT PC includes a font 
designer. You can use this extra facility to create your own personalised 
lettering styles and logos which you can then print using Tasprlntl 


Send for the free brochure which illustrates all the lettering styles 
included with TASPRINT PC. 

COnnCTi - Inll abJ for \ 

DI^Tfl HUd ^ ft fUTuniSTic scftiPf 

LECTURfl LIGHT - cleari and pleasing to read 

n£ii[fth - « ■arlou* liu■!■!•«*-Hlk« Tcrtpt 

PQIK^ ^CiyPJ - & 4^wJlTkg 

rjipfinr<M<p(jif jhcnrfl jrreArfft# sizic 


2 metre PC Paraltef Printer Ribbon Cable tor IBM PC, AmstmdPC, and 
compatibles: £i9.95. 



Ail prices Mude VA T and post and packaging 



:50FT\mREC 

Available fmm good stockists and direct from; 


good 

TASMAN SOFTWARE LTD., SPRINGFIELD HOUSE. HYDE TERRACE, LEEDS LS2 BLN TEL LEEDS <0532} 438307 

Xyou do /IHT want tocutouttivs iimpfy wnte oul yoof order pofl fo TaSWIV SOFTWARE, DEPT ACU SPfrSNGFtELD HOUSE. ETrDE TERRACE, LEEDS LS2 9LU 


{s cheque/PO mad'# payai/e to MSM4 W SOFTWARE Ltd OR charge my A CCESS/VISA numtu^f: 

irm 

NAME _____ 

AOOftESS ____ _ 


rei^Pip/i(sn#4c«ii/w«-o^c*f^s teedi r05J2>43830l 


Outsde fiwspe iddiz OOpff Jl[*n.*miar/. 


pRice 

£ _ 

£ _ 

£ _ 

£ _ 


TOTAL f 


PlfaM? Htnd me » FREE T^irrWr ftiorilufr descnbingyoitrpnxfuUi for iBWAmUfitif PC O Ajjwfrad CPC[JSpecinjm [J QL [JM5X[J Commodom- 6* O faturi^ [J 


ACU 


- ■ ■ ---ChiiiiitV 


rt-iAxa ^?SeXMr'b^^ iTM^fOp^i 


Win rttn'fnail; «r u^n esiMAvn HMW? it [W. ri7rA^ IbHW 

L.*twJS lieAw* Wi W!W4 c™ Cwdt *1 fWHAtr aiiOTHWilWA 


Mgrun Ow 


ti)b4lhrCe«Viifi UHJ, ? HUhri £tif( .Mfnn »w ^ HWi X6t Ifdvvr- fdtfn:. 


lirfiflrtiwn 
Ortiw?! i] 


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fAMifjCfj iyjfj 

NO I ANSTRAD MULTIPURPOSE INTERFACE with 

1) FULLY AUTOMATK, UNIVERSAL and PROFESSIONAL back-up Ladlity 

to tapK and disc for Amstrad CPC 464^ 664 and 6118. 

2) MULTI TOOLKIT to study^ modify/ develop software/hardware 

3) SK RAM EXTENSION 4) RESET BUTTON for "warm"' reset 

All at an AMAZINE PRICE of t46.9SI 


GOLDEN 

SCREWDRIVER 

Award 


"AMTIXNOV86" 


'T/m cJevorost hardwaro dev/ce at present" ArristrBd Action 


UfOLTJfACB TWO fs UNfCNJE in unhaatahla va/ue and/eatums; 


It im thw only Iruly ■utoniatk: badi-up davics — thi programs a/s 
RELOADED sieiclly a* thsy war* STOPPED and SAVED, inel. 
tha eolwra and sound - no othar panpli#ral otm RESTORE 
COLOURS AUTOMATICALLY and soma programs wdH not 
RELOAD A RUN proparly - BEWAREI and ut« MULTFACE 

TWO only. 

Does notocsupty any part of the Amstrad RAM and requires 
Noaddilional software-has Internal dK ROM and 8K RAM, 

STOPS ANY peoff ram ANYTIME. You can/uyf ftALtSE tyrSAVBofusB MULtl 
TOOLKiJ, otc. ^ogra/ns wifi CONTINUE from tfw sams fiotm wiiao yim 
RELOAD Umo- flwiytfwff « FULLY aoJi AUTOMATtCALLY 

RESTORED. 

MENU DRIVEN, Fully ERROR-TRAPPED wilti prompts and one-touctt 
commands turning complex tasks into a trivial procedure - aJf you rteed lo do 
is to pus^ Ehe buHor Qi>d select from the menu: 

S A VE - ID name 4 SA VE a progfam lo disc, tape or hyper tape. 

RETURN - to COIVTINUE a pncngram after any Dpefaticin. 

JUMP - noi DO return bui m JUMP to another eddrees. eay to your owrii 
routines in ihedK RAM eKtensiori- 


MULTiFACE 2 is EXTREMELY FAST in bcth SAVING ft RELOADING - its 
iNTELLtGENT COMPRESSING and TURBO saving to Oiscnape makes a 
Slandafti $4K pfogram rstoad typicatly in up to 20 SECONDS from disk or just 
over 5 minutBS from tape. The most EFFiCtENT COMPRESSING also rssulis 
ir7 minimai space used on disc Of 

MULTI TOOLKIT la tha only sxisting combtnatbn o1 hardwer* 
and aoflwan caps bis d 4 displaying & modifying EVERYTHING 
you may wish to Knotat about a program arsd currant aiala of 
computar You can PEEK/POKE tha anttra AMSTRAD contents 
inol. axtra eX RAM, rogtstara, colours, tic. You can open a 
WINDOW itnd scroll through 56 byta blocks In decimal, hax and 
avan ASCII rsprtsanftatlon (la. avaf^thlng satn aa laxl to reveal 
mtaaagat, etc) whh full on-acraan tditing. You gat INFO on 
acrsan mods^itarl address, tntarrupt mods^ no. of chars cl era 
p«r lint, horizontal ayrtc. position, lower and uppar ROM and 

RAM bank status, ROM typa, ate. And ALL can ba chang^- 

COMPATIBLE with expansion ROMS, RAMS and any other devices. 

PLUGS DIRECTLY into C PC 4^4.664,6126 - no need for extras. 

Save PROGRAM or a full 25-lirw SCREEN ONLY. 

THROUGH extension BUS For connecting other peripherals. 


TOOL- fo access MULTI TOOLKIT routwws. 

No Other back-up devica can compota with MULTtFACE TWO on any front: 
MULTIFACE TWO la tha ONLY AUTOMATIC on# 

MULTIFACE TWO Is tha FASTEST ofw 
MULTIFACE TWO takas tha LEAST ROOM 


MULTIFACE TWO Ia tba only one with a RESET button 
MULTIFACE TWO la the only one with a TOOLKIT to study/modtfy programs 

JUST COMPARE THE FACTS FROM AN INDEPENDENT TEST ON MICRQNET; 


JW/CflOA/FTtostod all four back-up devices currently on the market: ACTION REPLA Yby DateJ, DISC WlZARDbf 
Evesham Micros, fMAGER by Mirage and MULVFACE2 by Romantic Robot. They were all tested on the TOP 10 
GAMES for the week ending January 1987. Each copter was tested at the same point in each game and In the event 
of a f ai I ure the rev lewer tried twice more. These are so me of the res ults: 


Out of overall 10O% success claimed, the actual percentage was: 

ACTION REPLAY-20% | DISC WIZARD-^^0% | IMAGER-&0% | MULTIFACE-100% ~ 

MULTI FACE was confirmed as the ONLY TRULY AUTOMATIC back-up device - all other copiers require manual 
setting of colour, screen modet windows, etc. - provided they do not crash In the first place! This when tested on 10 
games took altogether: 

ACTION REPLAY -15 mlriN \ DISC WIZARD - ovBf tYsTmlnal MIRAGE - over 66 mins | MULTtFACE - rwt ■ppllcsbie 


The Actual SAVING time was in seconds: 

I ACTION REPLAY ■^33.4 | DISC WIZARD-4d.5 | IMAGER- 3M 1 MULTIFACE ^32.5 


Naturally, you sh ould add the SAVING time ar>d tha SETTING UP time together to get a true saving tame per each game: 

{action REPLAY-ovet 2 WiIn* I DISC WI2AR0 - over 18 mins| MIRAGE - OY»f 7 min* | MULTIFACE »32.S wconds 

The loading time took on average in seconds: 

I ACTION REPLAY-2L7 I CHSC WIZARD - 40.7 | MIRAGE-36.6 | MULTIFACE - 19J ~ 

Each device made a back-up of a different file size - on average: _ 

I ACTION REPLAY-WK | DISC WIZARD-BBK | MIRAGE-53K | MULTtFACE-49K 


The summary of the tests on MICRO NET? 


^'MVLTWACB TWO irom ROMANTIC ROBOT win* 0»*ity on all featureal tt I* fB*ter, mar* convanlant, 
more auccaaafuft uaa* taa* apaca and ha* mora facUitlatr 




















































Simon Rockman joins the 
fight for the Federation 


Empire is the new game from Firebird, 
and it will appeal to all megalomaniacs 
as you start with a small ship and work 
up to become master of your own 
empire. 

It is a game of Elite^type proportions, 
and as with Elite you can progress by 
either fighting or trading. There are 
missions and medals, but the early part 
of the game centres on using pods. 

The pods 

Your cub ship is equipped with two tow 
ropes; these can be extended to carry 
podst but must be withdrawn before 
you can dock. There are thi-ee basic 
types of pod - cargo, ship’s extrEis and 
specials. 

The cargo takes the form of ore, min¬ 
erals or people. Special pods do things 
like fill starbases ready for trading, and 



You are offered a miasion, 
wise to accept it. 


Amstrad User May 1987 


there arc energy pods which can be 
dropped to replenish shields and plague 
antidotes. 

Most important are the ship’s extras 
- the correct use of the right pod at the 
right time is the key to building the 
empire. 

Ship’s! extras include a better laser, 
extra cEirgo ropes, a go-faster module, 
shield generators, hyperspace pods and 
galaxy jump pods. 

Initially you can only carry two pods 
at a time, so it is important to earn the 
extra cargo ropes which allow a further 
two pods to be carried . 

It is unfortunate that you cannot 
choose wdiich pod to drop, but you need 
to vvithdraw the ropes until the pod you 
want to lose falls. This wrill certainly 
mean dropping two pods, and may 
mean dropping all four. 

Starbases 

You dock with starbases by flying 
between the tw^o orbs and rotating so 
th&tt the bow of your ship points to the 
centre of one globe and the stern to the 
centre of another. 

This is quite a difficult skill to 
master, but as the programs’ author, 
Andrew Glaister, remarked “it takes a 
week to learn to dock in Elite". 

You cannot dock wdth your tow ropes 
extended, which means that you have 
to drop all your pods — ropes appear 
from the starbase and drag in the 
goodies. 


The base will store ship’s extras and 
add cargo to its deposits. 

The starbase re\vards your depos¬ 
iting of cargo by offering you more 
ship’s extras as pods, and these drift 
outside the starbase for later collection. 

When you have filled the ore, people 
and minerals categories - and freed the 
system of aliens and plague — you have 
the option to buy the starbase. This is 
the first step to building your Empire, 
Bouncing into a starbase damages 
your shields, but you are safe from 
aliens if you are close enough to see the 
base. Wait outside for the shields to 
build up befoi^e trying to dock. 

Improve yourself 

Shortly after starting the game you will 
get the radio message The Empire wffll 
award medals for shooting lots of 
aliens’. Th is roughly translates to 
around 100 aliens for the finst medal, 
200 for the second, 800 for the third 
and 1500 for the fourth, 

\Yith the fourth medal you get a 
supershipT fitted with all mod cons and 
capable of storing eight pods internally. 

It is with this crafl that you set about 
your empire building. 

Tht.5 i,s a grand position to reach, 
starting from a humble cub ship 
w^ithout even a trading pass. 

Winning your wings is essential, and 
you must prove your worth before the 
Empire will allow you to have a trading 
pass. This is done by rescuing a pod 

Page 77 






























Entering a warp hole 


Docking is 
difficult 


which haa been stolen by acme aliens 
and returning it to the home starbase. 
Armed with a trading pod you should 
aim for a warp hole. 

Planet bound 

Most of Empire is played in 2D, but the 
planet sequence enters the third 
dimension. Re-entry on to a planet 
means finding a warp hole, which ia 
shown on the system map as one pbcel 
dots. Place a locator over the warp hole 
then use the ships pointer to fly there. 

The glide slope is shown by series of 
rings, a bit like those in Dark Star or 
Hive. Missing the rings has an adverse 
effect on your shield and it takes quite 
some mastering before you can get on 
to the planet in one piece. 

Once there your troubles are not over 
- green spiky fuzz balls come for you, 
then you can pick up the ore, people 
and mineral pods. Finally you head for 
an exit which takes you near the warp 
hole, where you can collect your booty 
and take it back to the starbase. 

Be careful when carrying radioactive 
ore — it’ll cause your ship to heat up 
with fatal consequences if you trans¬ 
port too much for too long. You should 
beware of making Icarus’s mistake - 
flying too close to a sun will melt your 
ship and even getting close causes the 
laser to play up. 

Having found your feet it is then 
time for some intergalactic traveh 
There are missions to perform in other 
solar systems and aliens to fight. The 
galactic map shows where you can fly 
to and unlike Elite you don^t have to 
mess about with hyperspace to get 
there. 

You can fly, but this is slow - a 
Galactic jump pod is the recommended 
mode of transport. Curing plagues and 
saving solar systems from aliens will 
toughen your fighting skills ready for 
the final hurdle of building a frontier. 
Then with the help of some frontier 
generators; you can box in your own bit 
of the galaxy and live happily ever 
after. 

Opinion 

Empire is an epic game and generally 
underrated - but it is difficult, perhaps 
too difficult. 

It took me a while to master the first 
mission. You have to fly towards the 
aliens with your ropes out and hit the 
two escorts and the main alien before 
more enemy ships can appear. You can 
then swing the rope over the pod and 


leg it back to the starbase as quickly as 
possible. It is a good job that you can 
outrun the other ships. 

The planet scene is spectacular and 
very different - it could well be another 
game. This change of pace left me 
breathless as I emerged from the warp 
hole. 

The plot was devised by Fouad Katan 
and Andrew Glaister. Fouad wrote the 
Commodore 64 version, Andrew^ the 
Spectrum and Amstrad versions. They 
have been over ambitious: There is so 
much to know that you cannot simply 
sit down and have a blast - even 
getting past the initial stages is pretty 
tough. 

There are some nifty programming 
tricks. The Empire logo bounces around 
on the title page and the whole game is 
played through a porthole. This helps 
to give the game a 50’s Buck Rogers 
feel. 

In some ways I get the impression 


Local motfements 
are planned on the 
system map 


that Empire is trying too hard to be 
different from Elite. There are more 
missions and a bigger goal but in many 
ways Empire could be classed with 
Elite, Space Trader and the old teletype 
Star Trek as a different space trading 
game. 

The documentation is poor - an Elite/ 
Starglider style novella would have 
been a worthwhile addition - and the 
sound is unimaginative. The disc ver¬ 
sion I tested required you to save your 
game to the supplied disc, something 1 
was a little unsure of. 

The game commits what one of my 
friends claims to be a sin - it starts in 
keyboard mode if you press the joystick 
fire button and doesn’t document the 
key to leave the starbase. 

Yet for all theae faults it is the game I 
have played most this month. Empire is 
curiously addictive, very frustrating 
and requires a bit of planning. The 
thinking man’s Elite. 


ACU 


Page 78 


Amstrad User May 1987 













































The truth about 

telex 


How much €tocs it cost 

to go on TdcxT 

You could go the conventional way and buy a 
dedicarecf Telex machine. The cheapest will cost 
you £ 1.604 (the Whisper), the dearest £2.892 (the 
CheerahJ. You wfJI also need a separate tele¬ 
phone line, costrng £101 to rnstalf, plus £404 a 
year rental. Thar's a total outlay over the frrstyear 
of a minimum of £2,109. (All prices indude VAT ] 

Or you could do wh^r more ^nd more Amsrrad 
users 3re doing - use your CPC, PCW or FC lo 
double ss 3 Telex m3chine. And just use your 
ordinery tefephonel 

How dio # turn my 


Into St Telex mocMno? 

All you need is a modem and appropriate 
communications software (see the advertise¬ 
ments in this issuej. a telephone, and a sub¬ 
scription TO MiaoUnk. 

Telex IS just one of a growing number of services 
available to Amstrad users on MfcroLink. With It 
you can also read the news as It happens, go 
teleshopping, create your own dosed user group, 
send telemessages and electronic mail right 
round the worid. download free ceJesoftware 
programs directly into your micro , . . and much 
more. 

But why use Tdex? 

Because it's a standard means of instant 
communication between businesses. Today 
there are 150.000 Telex machines in use in Britain 
- and more than 2 miifion worldwide. They need 
it to dramatically speed up business communi¬ 
cations -just as quick as using the phone but far 
more efficient, because you have a hard copy of 
every "conversation" for your records, 

But there's a big bonus you get when you use 
MicroUnk for Telex that the conventional way 
doesn't offer. 

With MicroUnk you don't HAVE to be in your 
office to send or receive Telex messages. You can 
just as easify use your computer at home [or even 
a portable}. So now you can check whether there 
are any Telex messages waiting for you - 
anywhere, anytime. 

How's that for your business efficiency? 


MkroLink application form: Page 14 


DMP-2000/3000 BUFFER UPGRADE KIT 

lh©printefbut<wpf«en 1 tyln»tw DMP20Q(V3a]Ol5Q2kRAM. fAstcjnUsRAM ftLsed 
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contcina o new stafle RAM which will Increase tfw prtriiisr buff# by 6k (obout 4 
pogei of text). This 143^arte virfU dho oUqw all pf the Downtod Character Set to be 
re-aetlfwj thereby allowing the user to design his own special characters tor use In 
eclanflfc ar<J other purposes. The kit Is SLipp»ed \)^*th ruH ptcitoilci kTaMjcttoria fa al^ 
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PritST £5.»(UK> SJ30(ftE5lf OttHt WOifLD) 


SPEEDTRANS <V1.43) 

TNjbdh enharTCed the o«lglr^ SPEEDTRANS whks> wl how tronsfer nfiorvy 

fhore gomes AUTOMATICAUV d horileftant now mode DiRfCTLV lO DISC. 

SPEEDTRANS b speOllcdRy desk^ied td tracEfer fhcee pro^oma that hove been 
vMtten u8*ro 1t^ SPEEDLOCK pfoteetton method. 

SPEEDTRANS wtl trorisTer both nomnal length {dSkJ garr>es ond obo tong ( 47 ll() 
gemea outofTXJitcafty. 

SPEEDTRANS Irarst^ the nnaln progrbrnemd, to mo^t case?, the opening scene. 
SPEEDTRANS ofso offeft the pcwJbUty ot saving toe acreen of the tonger gomes 
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SPEEDTRANS contains Q Lrique INKS program'urfUichv^ autematIcQfy iVto the 
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Rleen: Sfc,75<EUfiOflgi £7.5(VREsr OF tHF WOiLD) 

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Vtewteid w1l oibw you to get riTore pieosLTe from gomes and Qdvenftjes etc. You 
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you-pro^rTKv 

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51 COM.rr ROAD, HATFlEtD. HERTS, ALIO OSV 
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COURSE 1 - INTRODUCIMG BASIC: Forthe 
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COURSE 3 ^ NUMBERS, MATHS & 

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COURSE 4 - GRAPHICS & SOUND: Use of 
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COURSE 5 - FILES: Creating and reading files for 
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Cassette: £17,90 each or Disc £19,90 each 

Send co urse(s ) _ 

or debit ^ ^ ^^3 No. 

Name__ 

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Sendorwrit^ MO STAMP REQUIRED for further details to; 

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I enclose E 


4 ——I—I 1 1 i 1 —L=l I I I L 


Amstrad User May 1987 


Page 79 








































STOCKMARKET ^ 

THINKING OF INVESTING? ALREADY AN INVESTOR? 

STOCKMARKET enables you to record details of 
purchases* sales and dJrideniLs of shares, unit trusts etc. 
Current share prices can be entered very ea^ly at any 
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prices, indexes etc can be recorded, list^ and plotted 
along with moving averages. Practise buying and selling 
shares. See if your intuition is right 

PRICES 

* Sioce values of share prices, indrsuCS, cichflnge rates eic, 

* Up Id 260 prices ptf share (eg. weekly prices for 5 years). 

■ Tabulaie pri«a. 

* ploi pricey and moving averages wflb log or linear scak$. 

* Actual prices sup^ied as demonslalion dam (iltc FT 2Q. British Telecan). 

* Use Curves u selkt best buying and seUing 0 {^iori]»niiies, 

ACCOUNTS 

* Record full details ol your portfolios of siodts. shares, unit trusis etc. 

* Practice buying and selling lechniquos and accuraiely cecord your 
progress. 

* Up to fifty shares per fotio. Store many MkH Ort one di$C- 

* Buy and sell shares with aulomotic calcuiarion of dealing costs. 

'* User definable deaUng cosls. 

* Rocorid dividend yields and price earnings mios. 

* Updaic prices and auiomatically update yields, P/T ratios and 
recalnilaie individual share and total Mto value. 

* Record dividend paymenlSK total dealing costs and keep cash accounts. 

* Tafculale presiert folios, past transaotiais, dividends and cash 
accounts. 

* Demonstration data supplied CaH[achmsive forty page manual. 

CPC 464 (disc)/664/6128 
PCW 8256/8512 
Price: £29.95 (inc. p&p) 

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PageftO 


Amstrad User May 1987 



















■ . >.•.* - ‘ .fcfiffMfi*! ‘J^Ss•>»•-.■ yr 'i%- 


>1 . 






iv.v^c.^vjy^oTa-.vji-.v.-.-r|-.\:-mv.-4.;WvL..^farL-.^^^^^ 




y^.) 






REVIEW 

L*1 I. >r. . ■.'*1*1'' • ' 


SOFTWARE REVIEWS 




CLASSIC MUNCHER 

OK kiddies, let^s play a little game. I’ll start describing 
the scenario of this cute little original game by Bubble 
Bus, and you tell me when you think you can guess the 
game before it loads All right ? Here we go: 

"... Living in a haunted mansion isn’t much fun, 
especially when the ghouls take over, Muncher man 
must gather up ail the food before the ghouls get him [’ 

No, Muncher Man does not come from Munich, and I 
don't know why he doesn't get his food from the nearest 
McDonalds, Maybe he's a trendy veggie? I see you’re 
going to need further clues. 

Muncher Man’s house looks suspiciously like a maze, 
with lots of little round bits of f<x»d in it ^Not yeti Wait a 
bit). You have to wander about the maze, eating the 
food, and avoiding the ghouls (now you can start 
guessing). 

When you eat a special pill (left over from a previous 
police raid), you can chase and eat the ghouls (but go 
easy on the spirits), getting a large bonus from your 
local exorcist as you do so .(You must have it by now). 
Fruits pop up in the maze at random ... 

What do you mean, *'1 haven’t got it yet?" Insert tape 
in ear, press any key and re-read from start. This 
flippin’ well is Pac Man^ however deceptive the picture 
of the dinosaur might be on the cover. Mind you, with 
names like Classic Muncher, Back Man, or Ghost 
Gobbling or some such, waddya expect? Asteroids? 

You certainly don't get many hints from the loading 
screen - there isnT one. Another missing link is the 
sound effects - not exactly stunning, to say the least. At 
least you can use your own idea of keyboard and/or 



joystick layout. 

The sneaky bit that got me at the end of the first 
screen was that they went and changed the maze 
around. You don’t see that on many Pac Man clones^ 
though this one certainly swiped enough memory for 
several different maps. 

If you’re into being grabbed by the ghoulies in the 
hedges with some fruit, then you could do worse than 
buy this one. Bubble Bus are currently running a 
competition on the high scores. The prize, more soft¬ 
ware. But don't let that influence you unnecessarily. 


Prwe:£I.9S 
Authors Bubble Bus 



Simple ideas are often the best and you don't 
get much simpler than Pac Man. Bubble Bus 
may call this Classic Muncher, but no one 
else wiU. Still, 1 don't think they need to worry about 
Atari Coin-Op taking them to task. 

Coin-Op IS still owned by Warner Bros, which isn't 
as litigation happens Mr Tramiel’s outfit. 


The game foh that - Ed) is what you’d expect, the 
gprites are smooth, the gameplay a shade different to 
the arcade version but it is essentially the same thing. 
Graphics acceptable, sound unadventurous but all in 
all it is a reasonable Pac Man. The question is do you 
want to play a late ’703 game in the late 'SOs? 


T 

/20 



Software history lesson #37: Pac Man was 
invented in Japan, was bought by Atari and 
is probably the most profitable arcade game 
ever. The name derives from pacu the Japanese verb 
to eat and not “ as is often claimed - from Alfred 
Packer the last American cannibal. 

Part of the reason for the success of Pac Man was 
the non-violent theme, making it popular with girls. 


As is the Americans’ wont, a huge culture grew up 
around Pac Man with parades, a hit record and high 
score charts. 

The reserved Brits didn’t take to the game in quite 
the same way, but still it is surprising that this is all 
that remains of a video legend. A nifty cheapo game to 
bring back memories. 



As this is unashamedly a rip-off of Pac Man, 
I’m going to be ruddy critical of it. If you rip 
stuff off, youVe got to do it right. 

Mobile loading, you get one of the ^‘No Expense 
Spared Loading Screens pic.” specials, that is, none at 
all It's been said that games, are best left without 


loading screens, as it takes quite a while to load 'em in, 
but some message would be welcome. 

The mazes are different, but a wee bit on the small 
side. On the plus side, it’s all very smooth and 
colourful. Sound could have been a bit better though. 



Am^trad User May 1987 


Page 81 






























REVIEW 


1 




■ssr-.^ 

COJ '.O.' - ^ 


■I MO' .Mi. -•‘■OOj 00 ■ -•■ Oy ■ ■'OO''.- ^0O ■ ■ oOl 00 ■ ■. 

.oi iiO'-'OO' ■oj--'joo-- ...-'00-- :.-^ ■ :. 

I I'Siiii.^jiijj'i iiVi'r ■ 


3:: 


-iiL'S --oi 


.—r- 

P^. .C|5' -zp cp' -js*! 

; . 8B,^: SB r; 8S^: 83 - S: . Vb . - 






INTO THE EAGLES NEST 

Ach sot der Britischer/AmerikarLischer schwein are 
invading der strongholdings uf der commander of der 
glorious armed forces, VehafT already captured three of 
zem, but zis vun has der magic shootenbangen 
machine-gun mit der 300 round capacity magazines. 

Ve must not make life too hard for him, und zo ve 
leave plenty of der boxes of ammunition lying about, Ze 
people who really nead it on ze front vill half to wait. 

He need not vorry too much about being schott, Der 
guards hardly ever use der guns, und even if zey did hit 
him, he vould not know it, Zis is probably vy dercursed 
Kaptain K.E. Parker of der dreaded Pandora Software 
squad has not put in ze screen any vay of telling der 
health of der Britischer. 

Der guards are so dim zat zey lock der doors and 
leave der keys lying on der Qoor^ just vere der Britischer 
can find zem. Zis is probably just as veil, or zey vould 
vander avay und get lost. 

To keep him up on ze end of der toes, ve haff lots of 
der locked interesting boxes lying about too. Ven der 
looting Britischer finds vun^ he shoots off derdid. Inside 
is maybe der jewels, der gold ,,, or maybe der dyna¬ 
mite, Ho ho. Mit der sprengstoffenuppenstuffen und 
gamen ended. 

As veil as shooting der holes in der guards und der 
boxes, some of der doors (by some oversight) hafTbeen 
made of ordinary wood und are schotten through mit 
der shootenfiren machine gunnen, Der person 
responsible for zis oversight vill be found und deprived 
of next months ACU after joining der three other Briti- 
schers vehaff caught for ein little torture party, Ve haff 



vays of making you buy ACU! 

For ein Britischer, Lt. R, A. Chapman has surpassed 
himself und a few others mit der qualitait of zer 
graphics. All ze aktion is seen from zer bird^s eye view 
(or is zat der eagle'^s eye view? Ho ho, eine kleine joke). 
Zer guards are looking like from zer Colditz, zer enemy 
is looking like zer Robert Bedford. 

Schould der Robert Redford look alike successfully 
release der prisoners und detonate zeir explosivstoffe 
zat ve half carelessly left vere zey put it, ve vill he in der 
schtuck. 

Zis style of wanting der reviews is not intendings to 
insult any of der German or Austrian peoples. It is 
being done to vind upzer spelling checker of der glouri- 
ous editor. 


Author: Pandora 

Price ; £8.95 (tape}f £12.95 (disc) 


Some games grow on you. Others grow best 
in compost. This one definitely is for me, and I 
think, possibly for you too, I could sit in the 
ed's office for ages playing this with his nifty joystick, 
and probably would have if Pd not got hungry. 


This is a good shoot-up and a mazey adventure 
game to boot. If only there had been more of a status 
line. The end sneaks up suddenly on you, and you 
don't know when to start heading for the nearest first 
aid box, Apart from that, brilliant, ^ 



mode 0 graphics look great and the scrolling smooth, 
This is the first game from Pandora and it looks to 
be a winner. So if you fancy a challenge, a really good 
shoot em up with nifty graphics then venture into the 
Eagles Neat 


' Well it had to happen - a Gauntlet clone w ith 
a change of scene. Into the Eagles Nest is 
W WWII Gauntlet, it is one player only and 
splendid with it. 

The enemy sprites are much larger and better 
animated than those in the US Gold game, the shaded 



There is a bit of a Rambo ^ one man against impos¬ 
sible odds - flavour to it but every time I bit the dust I 
went hack for more. 


I don't usually like World War II games, but 
this is an exception. Lots of action, a mega- 
^ maze, realistic sprites and a true sense of 

danger. From the loading screen to the game over 
prompt, Into the Eagles Neat reeks of professionalism. 


Page 82 


Amstrad User May 1987 


























A The Official Amstrad Users Club A 

Alwljllr I amU lillIKt*** : 

iHRECrmOUIUSSE 



Turn yourcolouf in<)n]tor snto a cobur TV with 
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3"' FLOPPY DISKS (five packs] 

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" ^TCsrrranr -- — - 

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COBRA 


Enter Sylvester “Stallion’^^ Stallone in possibly his 
biggest movie flop yet: Cobra. The cassette inlay has a 
big macho picture of Stallone on the fronts swinging a 
laser-sight^ HK about, and with a Colt .45 jammed 
down the front of his trousers. Better be careful on 
quick draws with that, and w^hen replacing the hot 
barrel. "^'Squeaky-voiced*' Stallone, they'd call him. 

At any rate, forget the shooter for the moment — 
when you start the game you begin wdth tbe humble 
fist. Weaponry comes off your opponents, via (no, 1 
didn't believe this either) hamburgers, 

Kinda hard to swallow^ is that. Mind you, so are the 
first Casey- burgers of the morning at Liverpool Street, 
Like I said, you do for a baddie or a booby-trapped 
window and it gets replaced by a hamburger. Go past 
said snack and your weapons and ammunition are 
miraculously replenished. Tve heard they’re full of iron, 
but shome misbtake shurely. 

Nevertheless, bash in your sniper or offensive French 
window and there will be a pulsating hamburger 
waiting there. Hang on, hamburgers don’t pulsate, not 
even at Casey’s. 

You'll never guess what the windows are booby- 
trapped with either. No? OK then, it’s a parrot. It is an 
ex-parrot, it has , , , hang on^ wrong sketch. This parrot 
is an excreting parrot. Get my drift, or should I be 
dropping more hints? 

Apart from the Hashing burgers and the pooping 
parrot, the scenery is just mediocre (for ganres that is, 
not the real world), consisting mostly of brick ivall wdth 
the occasional staircase or window bunged in it. 

Oh yes, and the not-so-occasional whore in the 
background. These can be shott especially by the wife, 
but you lose 500 points in the process. 

Other colourful inhabitants of this typical American 
township are knife, RPG, pistol and machinegun toting 
thugs, and a head butting duck, 1 kid you not. 

As Stallone, you have an extremely sound consti¬ 
tution, and can take several direct hits from an RPG, 


The streets of America may be dangerous but 
nowhere can they be this unsafe* It's a good 
job that you can kill assailants with your bare 
fists and withstand the force of a rocket launcher. 
Confronted by such hazards Td run away very fast, 




Standard procedure for every game is to 
pick up the joyslSck and start playing: Then 
when you get stuck - and only after you've 
pressed every key on the keyboard to see if anything 
happens ^ you read the instructions. 

1 started playing Cobra and It seemed reasonable. I 
figured out the hamburger bit and was confused by 
the way you need to jump first up and then sidew^ays 




I -m 




' i j Lj i nlr’' ■ V,-' J I-J t -. 


it ■ ^ 






^ ii 

- J 1 J . ' t 


>CORE 


bullet, psychotic duck or whatever, but it’s much 
healthier to dodge them. 

Being a veteran of many “Rocky" raovieSt you can 
leap, punch and duck with ease. Unfortunately, so can 
the duck. What you really need is a large-bore orange 
shooter. That’ll fix the beggar. Further evidence of the 
Rocky heritage is the fact that lives remaining is 
counted in boxing gloves. 

The point of this all? There is one, you know. You 
have to rescue the traditional blonde WAFF (if you’re 
not into acronyms, read weak and feeble female herein 
she’s called Ingrid, as if it mattered. 

The contemptible dirty rotten ratfink who swiped her 
is called The Night Slasher, which is equally unimpor¬ 
tant, but makes for a better storyline. And the story is 
all you’ll get, ’cos there’^s no high-score table to impress 
your friends with. 

Essentiallyt this is a good old-fashioned piece of 
mindless violence that you might pick up more than 
once to relieve boredom. Just thought I’d give you a 
snake preview. 


Author: Ocean 
Price: £8.95 


Unfortunately whichever way you run you are con¬ 
fronted with more of the same. Overall Cobra is 
monotonous, boring and poorly designed, Another 
licence exploitation prog. Don’t let it exploit you. 


to get on to a higher ledge. So it seemed reasonable to 
read the instructions and sort out what was supposed 
to be happening. 

Then my opinion changed. There was no more to it. 
Worraripoff, The sprites are poor and jerky, the plot as 
credible as your average Stallone movie and the whole 
thing overpriced. 


Wot a load of old cobras. I've never seen such 
confused trash in all my life. Hamburgers my 
arm pit! 1 know Stallone’s supposed to be a bit 
of a beefcake, but this is ridiculous. 


windows. Also it seemed to halt for a while at it's own 
convenience. Nothing about that in the instructions. 
This looks a bit like someone took Green Beret and 
run it through some kind of zunification process. The 


I couldn’t help noticing that the screen occasionally result? For some peculiar reason 1 found it enjoyable, 
went into a quivering fit after passing booby-trapped 







-'‘ I 


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Page 84 


Amstrad User May 1987 
































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NEWSLETTER. Ovaraaae please add Ct.CX) Co total. 

OBDEBS wHh chequerposteL sent by relum post: 

NEMESIS (ACU) 

iO Carlow Hoad. Ringstead, Kettering, Northants NNI4 4DW. 



hen itcameitD maxir^ the most 
o( your Amstrad 02 ^ jftd 8 &I 2 , 
whoeSse wquU 'fOV turn to fcf guidance 
than Annttr* 3 l Ihenrselvesf Qeaity 'rve'ne the 
undisputed experts on aur pnoducts - arki on 
passrrtg on their benefits to you. 

N EW TRAINING COURSES 

I Our new one day training sessions have been 
designed to give you ihe most tomprehensive 
knGwledg,e of your computer aftd how to get 
the mijst out r)I rt. Uin|ik« many other < 0 ur 5 es, 
we inusi ofl no fUKire than ei^ht per trainwig 
group And every participant is gwen his or 
her owh Amstrad Compuier to work rnom. 

REAL VALUE FOR MONEY 

A full one-day training cuarse at our 
converient Newcastle-under Lyme Training 
Centre costs just £ 7 ?(jncJluding VAT). And 


the pfice incluttes a tJelicous lunch and 
refreshments. 

BOOKNOW 

The tr^ning courses which are running rww 
are just one more example oJ our 
oulstandir^ aflenales service {an Advanced 
Amstrad User course is also Wkiwirig 
shortfy). 

like to advee you that space & 
limrted. So why ™i ayntd the risk of 
disappointment and phone Miss Katherine 
Edge rijht now on OT&l 610011 (ext. 20 fl) to 
book your places [(X for further detait}. 


MMim 


AfiHtnd Dlilributioii Ltd 

PO BD.k 299 , MevHastte. Sm. ST 5 7 Q 5 . 


XT„„..- 

your training 
(direct from Amstra(d 


Page 86 


Amstrad User May 1987 





















































































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REVIEW 


PageftS 


Amstrad User May 1987 


SHOCKWAY RIDER 


Sounds like the scenario of the walkways in 
Asimov’s Caves of Steel, except, more grue¬ 
some and there aren’t so many cops. There 
only being all of three lanes, you don’t get a lot of room 
to manoeuvre in^ so you timing is criticaL Mine is 
terrible. 

Amazingly smooth scrolling on this; not a hint of 


flicker, even while changing lanes or passing people. 
And I love the spare heads, heavily garnished with 
tomato ketchup. Once mastered, this one is going to 
brighten up the lives of many a potential jaywalker, 
mugger^ thug, punk . . . 


Questions How do you get ahead in this game? Answer: 
You pick it up off the shock way. 

Yeah, this is one game of really mindless, gutsy, 
bloodthirsty violence (so why did I score so badly ?), It’s 
all about spoiling innocent civilians" Sunday afternoon 
strolls on the moving walkways round the city. Not only 
spoiling them, but knocking seven kinds of whatever 
out of them w^hile you’re at it. 

The overall effect is rather like rush-hour on the 
tube. 

Some of the local yokels are just as bad as you are, 
noggin on the pavement. In true yobbo tradition, the 
opposition can be eliminated with uppercuts* bottles 
and bricks. 

So can innocent bystanders. All disintegrate with 
appreciable clouds of naive smoke and appropriate 
guiltless noise,, even the punks. 

Some erka are dumb enough to sit in your way; they 
should get what’s coming to them . another one bites 
the dust bey hey). 

When the wrong one, that is you, gets decapitated 
{head hits the sidewalk, blood trickles in thick rivulets), 
all vigilantes present turn and do a creditable “Yar boo 
sucks” gesture in your general direction. This doesnT 
help us sore losers any. 

As you progress through the mess of freshly de- 
bodified heads, things get trickier, Some bright spark 
decides it’s a fun thing to build razor-edged barriers 
across the shockw^ay. Not being an exponent of the 


Imagine Infodroid in 3D and you get an idea 
of what Shock way Rider is about. Out goes 
the strategy and planning, in comes the gore, 
Travel around the city of the future avoiding mug¬ 
gers but earning bonus points for lobbing the odd half 
brick at an unsuspecting granny. Later you graduate 


to mail bags and target practice. 

Throwing missiles across the tracks is a difTicult 
skill to master, and not needed until the later levels. 
Ideologically unsound, actually very good. 


Yuk! This game is sick, putrid, rank, foul and 
in the w^orst possible taste. If CEL^a Dracula 
was aw^arded a 15 Certificate then this 
wouldn’t pass an 18. The idea of half a skull laying on 
the moving w^alkway is horrid- And yet despite my 
revulsion 1 returned for more. 


The catchy tune, bright graphics and addictive qua¬ 
lities had me going for days, I am ashamed to admit 
that t enjoyed playing this game. Buy it if only to 
disgust your parents. 


ancient art of limbo dancing, you get de-nutted on 
impact (that means yer head* mate). 

In the demo, targets flash by on the higher levels. In 
practice* it takes a while to get that far. I didn’t make it. 
Any way you do it* etiquette practically dictates that 
you make a complete circuit of the city, and if the devil 
doesn’t take the hindmost* the shockway riders 
certainly will* 


Authori FTL 

Price: £3,95 (tci.pe)f £13,95 (di^c) 



































'.Ik.' ' 


rwiEMTlEIE O' 



Save Money on Printer Ribbons 

Have your ribbon re-inked at less than half 
the price of a new one, 

TRIAL OFFER 
£130 


Send your ribbon.(s) and payment to: 

ALADDINK 

(Dept AU), 4 Hurkur Crescent, Eyemouth, Berivkkshire 

TD14 5AP 

Tekphone 08907 50965 for colour 


ASTROLOGY 
for beginners 

Teach yourself asirology using your AmsErad 
A Starter PaoK compfising a simple program to cateuiate a horoscope, an 
introductory booklet and £ selT-teaching programs {how to interpret the horoscope) 

£11,50 cassett4 £15.50 disc (£1150 for 1512) 

Mo previous knowledge rsgmrod 
Also many other programs f« rraxo exparienoed astrologers 

Please serxi tJie Aslrotogy Starter Pack for my Amstracf 
464/6W,'6l2fl^£56/1512,1 enclose a chequ&'PO, UK. tor £11 .M1S.50/EI3.50 
[Inc p&p). OuEside UK add 50p; w, i enclose a large sae for tree catalogue. 

Name- 

Address - 

ASTROCALC {CieptA} 67 Paascroft Ftoad 
Hsmel Herts HP3 QEH Tel: 0442 51909 


Reach the 
top with ... 


Educational Software 



AS 

SEEN ON TV 
* VVOPLD LEADERS it 


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Electron^ BBC (tape/disQ) 

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it At adl Maior Shows it it Hons. GradfiaEo Authors * 
COMPLETE SELF TUmCN 6CSE/QCE COURSES 
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off total tor 2, £ 19 ow total tor 3, 

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PRIMARY MATHS COURSE (CPC) 
Course taking beginners {(rom S years) to 
. secoftoafy sctiool entrants in 35 
programs Efivtded Into 18 lesson&tosis. 
All animated graphios Zdiscs^apes £24 
MICRO ENGLISH (CPC +PCW} 

m Course taking beginners to Eniglish 

Language QC3E. Incoiporates real 
speech, no extras required. 2 tapestTsc 

£24 

MICRO MATHS (CPC+PCW) 

.CO'Urse taking beginners [from age 8 yrsj 
toOLevel/GCSE. 24 programs or 59 
topics orr 2 tapesJtfisc +2 books £24 
MEGA MATHS (CPC) 

A-Level course tor mature beginners, 
A-LevetStudenlsor Micro Matos users. 
^ Covers 105 topics un 2 tapes/cfsc+ 

^ books£24 

Send coupon or phone orders or requrssts tpr free colour catalogue to: 

LCL, (Dept AU), Melody House, Greys Road, 

Henfay-oh-Tharnes, Oxfordshire 


Tel: 0491 579345 (lOam-IOpm) 




Use your micro to 
speed up your,.^^| 


and next-day 
delivery is guaranteed! 


Everyone knows that “first class” mail is far from perfect. 
The Consumers' Association reported in June that two out of 
every five first class letters fail to be delivered the day after 
they are posted. 

So if yoi^ have an urgent letter that just HAS to be 
delivered tomoirow, what do you do? 

If you have a home or business computer the answer is at 
your fingertips. 

You compose the letter on your computer. Then, in a 
simple operation that takes only a few seconds, you send It 
down the telephone line to MicroLink, the electronic mail 
service operated in association with Telecom Gold. 

That's the end of your part in the story. From now on 
electronics take over. Your letter is fed automatically into the 
national British Telecom Tele message service. It's switched to 
the delivery office nearest the recioient’s address^ where it's 
pnnted out on a letter-quality printer and put into a distinctive 
yellow envelope. And providing it was sent any time up to 
8pm, it is delivered by the local postman by breakfast time, the 
next day Exactly as you'd typed it out the day before. 

And how much does this ultra-fast service cost? From fust 
£1.25 to send a letter of up to 350 words to any address in 
the UK {and an extra £1.70 to any address in the USA). You 
can also have it accompanied by a colourful greetings card 
(choose from 16 different varieties) for another 65p. 

Telemessages is just one of many seivices offered by 
MicroLtnk that are designed to speed up communications. 
Find out more returning the coupon below. 


r 
I 

I 
I 
I 


Pliease send me more Infortnation about your speedy 
Telemessage service and other aspects of MlcroLink. 


Name- 


Address- 


rnkroUDh 

In 4i4«cttliwi wHh 


TELECOM GOLD 


Send to.' MicroLjnfc, 

Europo House. 68 Chester Rood, 
Hazel Croue, Stockport SK7 5W. 


I 
I 
I 
I 

ACU^ 


Page 89 


Amstrad User May 1987 





































































If you're a business or 
professional user of 
Amstrad computers you 
won't want to miss the 
May issue of.. . 



STOCKS AND SHARES; Dave Osborne examines 
two programs, available on all Amstrad machines, 
that help computerise share trading. And lolo 
Davidsor> explains how to make a profit on the 
Stock Market — with someone else's computer, 

EDUCATION: Rex Last offers improvements to a 
primary school software package. 

STATISTICS: Dr Peter Morris evaluates a set of 
scientific and management statistical packages. 

DATABASES: Kathy Lang finds out if the Amstrad 
version of PC Promise keeps its word, 

PROGRAMMING: Peter Pavely looks at the ground 
rules for tweaking commercial software. 

CHIT-CHAT: Cliff McKnight reviews Sagesoft’s foray 
into the PC communications market. 

. . . And much more. In-depth reviews of hardware 
and software, plus regulars and specials. 


On Ship APRIL IS 


SPECIAL OFFER FOR ACU READERS! 

Subscribe to Amstrad Professional Computing 
using the coupon below and well send you a FREE 
binder worth £3.95. 


■■ ORDER FORM 


Subscription ‘ ' 

tlSUKwidEi™ 4O0t _! 

£25 EufOp* *303 — 

£4<}Ov«r»tt» 

FfB* Undar {UK anfy} 4€OS -- 

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Payment please indicate mettxjd 
^ 'j AccH£/MafitMcard^EerocafdfiafckiyCwd/^^ 


Enplfy dans 

/ 




Mill I I M I I I I JJ I I M -I 


I ~ I Cheqkie^vtichAqiia made payabte to AnvtnK) Pn^skinal Gorrpillng. 
Name_- -Signed--- 


Address 


___Tel:___ 

Post to: Amstrad Profuslonat Computing, FREEPOST, 



CYCA LTD. 


287 CALEDONIAN ROAD, LONDON N1 1 EG 
TELEPHONEr01-700 4004 

AMSTRAD 


Amstrad PC Compatibles 

P.O.A, +VAT 

CPC 464 Green 

E173 +VAT 

CPC 464 Colour 

E260+VAT 

CPC 6128 Green 

£260 +VAT 

CPC 6128 Colour 

E350+VAT 

DMP 2000 Printer 

E139+VAT 

DMP XOO 

E169+VAT 

PCW 8256 

E399+VAT 

PCW 8512 

E499 +VAT 

Amstrad V21/23 Modem 

£86+VAT 

CF2 Floppy Disc 

£2 60+VAT 

CF2 DD Floppy Disc 

E4,50+VAT 

Printer Ribbon DMP 2000 

£4.00+V AT 

Printer Ribbon 8256/3512 

E4.50+VAT 

JY2 Joystick 

E11.00+VAT 

RS 232 Serial imerfaoe 

£43.00 +VAT 

CPS 8256 RS 232 (use vrth PCW 8256) 

£59,00 +VAT 

Amstrad DD11 

E13S+VAT 

Amstrad FD 2 

E139+VAT 

MP1 Modulator/464 

L17.0O+VAT 

Sony 3.5" a/3 DD 

EL90 + VAT 

Sony 3,5" D/S DD 

£2.90+VAT 

Sony 5.25 MDID 

£1.20 +VAT 

Sony 5.25 M02D 

£1.70 +VAT 

Sorty5.25MD2DD 

£2.75 +VAT 

Sorty5.25MD2HD 

£3 00+VAT 


TLX 297761 BT1EQ G Relay to 01 700 4004 


CYCA LTD 

287 Caledonian Road» London N1 1EG 



CREDIT CARDS HOTLINE 
01-700 4004 


nn 

1 


The PCW 8256 & 8512 Desk 
Top Companion Printer 
Stand £9.50 


Why Let The Space Taken by your Printer be lost 
Prirmrily designed for continuous stationery. 

You could tuck your modem or second disc drive under it 



Top Mounting Printer Top Mounting Monitor 

Stand £9.50 Tray £15.00 

A reai space saver, put yowr printer on top of youi monitor using our 
topmountirig printer stai^ or why let the sp«e taken by your 
monitor be lost, our tray reDovers that lost space, vacuum formed in 
light grey to contrast with your keyboard. 

All the products in the MEAC Designs Desk Top Cbmpanion tenge 
are designed specifically for your rOV to ensure that they Wend In 
with the PCW's original design concept, Simple yet efficient Desk Top 
Companions are injectjon moulded and simply plug Into existing 
holes in your PCW, ito screwing or glueing is required. 

Chir prix^ iiKlpiive of VAT and F&F, 


Memory tlparade Scoop 


PC 1512 Memory Upgrade kit £22.95 
8256 Memory Upgrade Kit £18.95 


Complete with easy to follow instructions & photognphs. 
S«i J y<w Chtifw or Postai Ordtrs madt 
pit^uhlc to AfLlC Drstgns to 

MEAC Designs, Dept AC 
3 Little Croft, Yateley, Camberley. 
Strirey, GU17 7BU. Tel: <0252) 879QQ5 



Page 90 


Amstrad User May 1987 


























































































GEM^ 




First there's thebriiliant newAmstratl PC1512. 

Compatible with you-know-who. High speed 8086 
processor 512K memory, Full input/'ouiput system. High 
definition graphics. 

. .. A mouse. A monochrome monitor. And a single 
disk drive. Fully loaded. 

All for £^449- 

Then there’s the soltware. 

GEM makes the simply brilliant Amstrad PC 
brilliantly simple to use. 

That’s w hy you'll see GEM Desktop, GEM BasJt2 and 
GEM Paint packed in free with your new PCI512. And more 
excellent GKM sofm-are is available. 

That’s also W'hy we’ve added this coupon. Because, 
there’s even more to GEM than first meets your eye. 


a GEM 


^ L*nd now for details on the brilliantly simple GEM Software ^ 
for the Amstrad PC. 


GEM Diari'RilP - for perft’CL 
personal organisation, a perpetual 
cjilendar, diaries and card filer-all in one. 

GEM ^'rite £-S6.91 Rttf - for full W'Xjrd- 
proc&ssng that mtKes grapli'i and d lagrams 
i]\'ilde a letter or docuiitjetit. 


GEM iS6.91 £l(4P- for ihe -ftHdeiit 
of graphs and chan.s to preseni 
nunierJjC intormarlon. 


GEM Draw £8(5.91 RRP - for anything from 
simple sketches to complex diagrams. 

GEM Comm JEy60.S5 RRP - for access to 
conijiuter conimuniciiiioiw, infludiiig 
telM, electn^inlc matl and Ertstel 

GEM WordCtiart 41-86.91 for crisp, 
dearly formatted text presc^ntatioiis and 
tables 

Aji pr/Cfei" liitittKJStai are estT/uvn-e 


Name. 


Address. 


l^OStLXxJc 


Send tO: GEM .^istrid InfijrmaEloni, 

Digital Hesearch (1.1K) [jid., Oxford Hollsc, Oxford Street, Newbuo'. Berks RG13 IJB 


I_ 


Jfc3 I 


GEH, GEM EJCSKIW, GEM PAIHT. CEM WRITE. GEH DIARY. GEM (aWPH, GEM DRAW GEM WOBtJCHiRl AND IHE DIGITAL flESEARCR LOCfl WE 
IRrtDEMMlKa Ofl REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF DIGRAL RESEARCH INC AHSTIMD AND AMSTflWJ PC iWE TRAECMARKS OR REGISTERED 
trademarks Qf AMSTliU) CCnSUUCR ILECTFlONlCS P1.G LijuvtkiIh; aitSCS IS A TRADEMARK OF CDCOMOTIVF SClIlWAflf IIQ.. 
(© 1^7 oustAL aEStfiRCH INC, All, ftGHfS RESERVED 






































To order please use the form on Page 95 


* Compose directly 
on to the stave with 
the feature-packed 
editor 

* Use your Amstrad 
keyboard 

to enter music in 
realtime and 
record it on the 
buiit-rn multi-track 
recorder 

* Create and modify 
sounds with the 
synthesiser then 
feed them in to the 
sequencer 

k Link music files in 
any order to 
produce full-length 
compositions 

t Print out your 
masterpiece 
on to paper 


FIVE powerful 

modules at your 
finoertios! 


This is the most sophisticated 
music package ever created for 
the Amstrad CPG range - and 
now it's even better value! 


Suiiable lor 


CPC 464, 
664, 6128 
(Oise ontyj 


Product 


Music System 


Format 


Disc 


RRP 


mss 


Special 

ruder offer 


£21,95 


YOU 

SAVE 


Offer including 

subscription 


£31,96 


YOU 

SAVE 




Page 92 


Amstrad User May 1987 




























































Its innovative features include: 

• A colour priority facility so you can t 
behind or mask particular areas of 
the screen. 

• Eight random spray cans with three 
speeds for that professional finish. 

• Three levels of magnification with 


Normal Price: £24.95 

Offer Price: £18.95 


Format 


Offer inciu(flng 
aub>orf|itlon 


£ia.95 


£41.95 


requires DKTranics64J( 


\ — 

I Sultabfe for 

Product 

CPC Range* 

Advanowf An Studio j 

CPC A&4, B64 

CKTronlc* e4k Ram ^ 

LCPC«4,6&) j Bplhth««bcve 


To order please use the form on Page 95 



Amstred User May 1987 


Page 93 

















































































8Mers 


YowrAmstrBd Computer 
-User is the ideal source of 
reference for every user of 
Amstrad computers. Keep 
your magazines tidy and in 
tip-top condition by using 
our top quality binder, 

The Amstrad Computer 
User binder holds 12 
issues. Each binder is 
black with the logo 
embossed in sliver. 

Only £4.95, 



Subseripthas offers 


Discs are essential to anvon^ with an Amstrad disc drive so if you Own a . CPC 664, CPC 
6120, PCW 0256 Of even □ PCW SSI 2 yow will he interested in this special 

Ouf dfscs cost €2.74 csch. 

You could pay as much as twice that, the usual price is afound £4 per disc. "There must be a 
catch". Yes, there is - you can only Oualilv for the offer when you subscribe to Amsfrad 
Qompotm i/ser. 

These are official, thoroughly tested discs made by Pare sonic, They are WOT the cheap, 
unreliable imports now conning on to the UK market. 


See detsUs on tfje artier form aionffsfde.. 


Cheap discs - wow I 


Oiisieoyers 


DMP2000 
Printer £3.95 


Keep your equipment free from dust and 
grime with an A ms trad Professfonsf 
Computing dustenver, made from eJear 

pliable vinyl and bound by strong red cotton and sporting the iogo 


CPC range 
Keyboard £3.95 
Monitor £5.95 


DMP 2000/3000 Printer Cover...... ^3.BS 

CPC 464/664 keyboard cover.. ....£3.95 

CPC 6128 keyboard cover....£3.95 

Green screen monitor cover....... £5,95 

Colour screen monitor cover....... £5.95 

PCW 8256 keyboard, monitor and printer set ... £11.95 










Seek issues 


Virgin 


^9SS - Mityr CPC review, 
interview. Using 5V^ inch discs. 

June: Maxam assembler review. Hock 
Hopper listing. CP/M user group 
.feature. 

Juiy: 664 (and 6128) to 464 convers/on. 
Graphics toolkit Hsilng. Speech 
synthesisers compared. 

August: Screen designers compared. 
Techniciary Ted map. Knight lore map 
and pokes. 

Septemh&r: Doubte height routine 
Unsung heroes - MBJ. Crazy tegs 
listing. 

Octohen CPC 6128 review. Okimate 20 
review. DK'tronics iight pen. 
tliovembet: Amgraph business 

graphics iisting. DMP—2000 review. Life 
program. 

December: Everyone's Wafiy map and 
pokes. Protaxi review. Enhanced trace 
utility. 

1986 — JenuMry: Mode 3 revealed. 
Sorcery plus pokes and map. Shaded 


dump iisting. 

Februaty: Brainstorm review. Graphics 
adventure creator. DK'tronics ram 
expansion review. 

B/lsrch: Communications survey. Laser 
Basic reviewed. The Music system 
examined. 

Aprit: Using the 6845. Screen flipping 
on the 6728. Graphic packages 
reviewed. 

/Vlay: Max Headroom. Joysticks 
compared. Teietext adapter reviews. 
Home spread fisting. Durnimy Hun map. 
CPS review. 

June: Batman Map. Biggies preview. 
Get De^ffejr Map. Music made simple 
ABC Planner calc. 

July: Paiace interview^ Activision^ Load 
Spectrum screens into an Arnolds Battle 
of the cars program. 

August: Equinox mapped Printer mini- 
survey^ Midi interface, interceptor iist¬ 
ing, Mastertronic interview. Last free 
issue of ABC. 

Septamber: Bpindizzy map^ detailed 
assembler survey. Joystick reviews, 
PCW games. 


Page 94 


Amstrad User May 1987 




























































Bargain iaattfas""’'"^' 

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# 


Amstrad User May 19S7 


Page 97 





























































Iamstraduse^ 




nV.fV^-.VV-^rrtO.'.T.v 




lUUUfiUUUiUAUUAUUUU 


The Least 
Significant Bit 

The Which? Computer Show brought the return of Sir 
Clive — you need to be careful not to call his machine a 
Sinclair. Amstrad owns his surname (but not his Sir 
name). 

The foolish editor let nostalgia and his cheque book 
run aw'ay with him, producing an ink filled Parker to 
swell the coffers of the good knight. Since he had 
trekked to Brumm with instructions to buy a Z88 for a 
like-minded friend he made out the order for two, to 
include postage and packing. 

Being as numerate as the average aardvark he 
failed the simple addition test and resorted to using 
the Z88 to do the calculation. Two machines each at 
£229.95, a Ram pack at £49.95, p&p £7.50. Right type 
that into Sir Clive's squidgy keyboard and write a 
cheque for: £517.3500001, Humm some debugging 
needed here I think. 

Alan Sugar need not worry about the new black 
beast, so it is some surprise that he asked the techie 
wiz at a top Amstrad distributor what he thought 
about the Z88. *‘Well,” replied the engineer, “it^s 
smallj so iPs going to get hot. I think it needs a fan”. 
Such chut^pa earned an unusual response from Mr 
Sugar - silence. 

Fond memory 

Many magazines have a page of chat at the back, a bit 
like LSB. PCW offers Chip Chat, Smash Hits has 


Mutterings and Acorn User offers Acorn Abuser. It is 
this last column which caught the eye of Amstrad 
bigwigs shortly after the CPC launch, when Acorn 
were mighty and Amstrad were Audiophiles (who's 
laughing now' Luigi?). 

Abuser re\hewed a Hi-Fi complete with twin speed 
disc drive (33 1/3 or 45 rpm), and tape interface. What 
annoyed the men at Brentwood towers was that the 
photo used was not of an Amstrad tower system but of 
a rival - not too distant in name from that of The 
Duchess of York. 

Chart Busters 

Never too proud to steal an idea - plagiarize, 
plagiarize remember why the good Lord made your 
eyes, but always call it research - LSB offers the top 
10 games for 1999. 

1. Computer Hits 10 Vol 97 - Beau Jolly 

2. Bombjack 23 - Elite 

3. Pong — official licence — Ocean 

4. Naff James Bond game - Domark 

5. Formula 1 Simulator — Mastertronic 

6. Knight Tyme 1999 — Mastertronic 

7. A little bit more advanced but not quite as 
advanced as next week’s version Art Studio - 
Rainbird 

8. Star Trek - Beyond 

9. Blue Peter - the game — Macsen 

10. Zaxxon - Amsofl 

How to be a pest 

If you want to annoy a PCW owner make it go beep. If 
you really want to annoy a Joyce owner then hold 
down a key, make it beep and pull out the keyboard 
plug. The machine won’t stop beeping. 


ADVERTISERS INDEX 


Advanced Memory Systems. 13 

Advantage.60 

Aladdink..... 89 

Amsoft..... 83 

Amstrad... 34,35,49,91 

Amstrad Distribution.. 86 

ARC Education.86 

Arnor...... 62 

Astrocalc....’...89 

Beau Jolly.. 17 

Brentwood Office Supplies ....... 21 

Campbell Systems..4 

Cheetah Marketing..28 

Clifton Trading.40 

Compulink Services.. 80 

Compumart... 99 

Com tec Systems.. 30 

Connect Systems.. 71 

CP Software.63 

Database Exhibitions.. 7 


Database Publications. 14,41,79,89 


Database Software.... 24,54,55,58 

Data vise.... 

. 71,73 

Date! Electronics.. 

.60 

Digital Research.. 

.2 

DK’Tronics.... 

.,., 100 

Durell.... 

.8,9 

Evesham Micros .. 

.80 

Garwood Software.. 

...... 21 

Goldmark Systems.. 

.79 

HiSoft... 

.* 97 

HSV Computer Services*.*.. 

.67 

Jackson Computers ... 

.71 

Jerstad Import... 

,*.*,* 86 

Kamset.*........ 

.* 21 

LCL Educational Software. 

,*....89 

Matmos ....*.... 

.71 

Meridian Software.... 

......80 

Micronet 800. 

.27 

Microtext_*... 

......86 

Microwise UK .. 

.79 

Mirage Microcomputers. 

.73 


M.J.C. Supplies.........80 

Nemesis. 86 

Newerown Computers.. 73 

Ocean Software...... 10,96 

O.J. Software.. 85 

Opus Supplies...39 

Romantic Robot.. 76 

Rombo Productions.....85 

R.S.D. Connections,...67 

SBS Computer Supplies. 56 

School Software... 85 

Selec Software.......85 

Silicon City.... 71 

Siren Software. 22 

Star Micronics.......47 

Tasman Software.74,75 

T.D.J.Kirk... 86 

T^peshare.. 73 

Viglen.... 42 

Virgin Games..,...,..... 52 


Amstrad User May 19ST 


Page 9S 






































































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